


Soaring Hearts

by NightLady



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-09
Updated: 2015-09-09
Packaged: 2018-04-15 09:33:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 30,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4601766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightLady/pseuds/NightLady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma Swan is a pilot for Enchanted Airlines. Regina Mills is an award-winning actress. Their paths cross when Regina and her entourage misses their flight to Los Angeles, which results in a disagreement which sets the two off on a rocky beginning. Sparks fly when the ladies are subsequently forced to be partnered together for a project, and both women discover that the other wasn't the person they had initially thought them to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [reginamea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reginamea/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Soaring Hearts](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4684016) by [reginamea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reginamea/pseuds/reginamea). 



> This was inspired by a Hong Kong film called Triumph in the Skies.  
> First off, I'd like to thank LZClotho, my beta for this story. LZ was amazing and provided a lot of help, both plot-wise and in correcting my grammar/English. I'd also like to thank reginamea, for her wonderful and beautiful and gorgeous artwork. Words cannot describe how much I love it. Last, but not least, thank you Danie and Ellen, for cheering me on as I embarked on this journey.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything belonging to Once Upon A Time.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” Regina scowled at the cowering lady in front of her. The other woman has auburn hair that was tied up neatly in a bun and accessorized with a light blue hat that matched her uniform. She looked at the brunette and her entourage with fearful eyes and apologized for the umpteenth time.  

 

“Miss Mills, I am extremely sorry. The Captain really could not wait for you. She has requested that I pass on this message.” Rather than relaying it verbally, the red-head handed a piece of paper to Regina with trembling hands. Snatching it from the poor girl, Regina’s frowned deepened as she read the message.

 

            “ _Miss Mills, there is no way I am wasting the time of 300 other passengers on board this plane simply because you have no concept of punctuality. I apologise for any inconvenience caused (but really, you just cost the entire plane three minutes). I have no choice but to take off without you for the sake of all the other passengers on this plane._

_– E. Swan”_

 “Tell this E. Swan that I would definitely be lodging a complaint against him!” Regina growled as she crushed the piece of paper in her hand and dumped it in her purse.

 

“H…her, Miss Mills,” the younger lady muttered.

 

“If you have something to say, I suggest you speak up, dear,” Regina barked, startling the airline employee.

 

“Miss Mills, Captain Swan is female. The ‘E’ stands for Emma,” the employee managed to squeak out.

 

Just as Regina was about to bark back a reply, a young boy no older than ten stepped forward from the group of people behind the brunette. He approached Regina and placed a hand on her arm, gently beckoning her to back down.

 

“Mom, there’s nothing we can do about it,” he coaxed. Regina looked at her son and her expression immediately softened. She nodded at him and then turned on her heels to leave.

 

“Miss Mills! What do we do now? Your photo shoot was scheduled for right after you land in Los Angeles!” Sidney cried out as he trailed after the brunette.

 

Regina stopped short and rolled her eyes. Turning to glare at the man, who nearly crashed into her, she sneered, “Book another flight and postpone the shoot, of course! If you continue to be this incompetent, Sidney, I might as well be my own manager.”

 

That shut Sidney up effectively as he immediately began to scroll through his contacts to call the people responsible for the photo shoot and arrange everything.

           

Meanwhile, Regina sat down on one of the chairs in the airport and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. The rest of her entourage collapsed on the nearby chairs and watched her warily. The ever-perceptive boy frowned and sat down next to his mother.

 

“Mom? I’m sorry,” he muttered as he hugged her from the side.

 

Regina melted into the hug and smiled softly at her son, “Don’t be sorry, Henry. It’s not your fault. You didn’t ask to be sick, sweetheart. It’s the pilot’s fault for not waiting an extra three minutes more. Perhaps it’s time I chartered private jets instead.”

 

Henry did not reply and Regina simply sat there and held him close whilst Sidney arranged their next flight.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Emma Swan did her pre-flight preparations as she normally would, an hour before her flight. She was vaguely aware of the buzzing around her, but chose to ignore them. This usually occurred when there was juicy company gossip going around or when someone famous was about to take one of their flights. Whatever it was, she was sure that it did not concern her or she would have gotten the news already. Since it did not concern her, she did not care about it either.

 

Focusing on the flight plans, she made a mental note of the details she would have to test her First Officer on. After all, David was in line for a promotion and he would have to know his stuff to pass his command line check.

 

“Oh my gosh! Em! I mean, uh, Captain Swan! Have you heard the news?” A practically squealing air stewardess came rushing excitedly towards her.

 

Shaking her head at the brunette’s antics, she sighed, her eyes never leaving her flight plans. “What is it this time, Ruby? We are on the same flight today, right?”

 

“Yes! But you won’t believe who is coming on board!” At this point, Ruby was practically jumping with glee. Just then, David joined the two women, with his own set of the flight plans in hand.

 

“Good morning, Captain. Have you heard? Regina Mills is flying with us today; _the_ Regina Mills,” David grinned, barely able to conceal his glee at beating Ruby to informing Emma of the news despite knowing that Emma usually did not care about such details. His statement earned him a glare from Ruby. He was nonchalant about the news but refused to pass on the chance at beating Ruby to relaying the juicy piece of gossip to Emma.

 

“Thanks, David. Thanks a lot.” Ruby practically pouted, earning a laugh from Emma.

 

“C’mon, what’s the big deal? Who is Regina Mills anyway? To me, she is just another passenger and it is our duty to provide all passengers with a safe and timely flight. David, summary of your flight plans?” Emma said, going straight to the point.

 

Both David and Ruby gaped at the blonde woman. They were surprised that she had no idea who Regina Mills was.

 

“What?” Emma asked defensively.

 

“You really have no idea who Regina Mills is?” David questioned.

 

“Are you serious?” Ruby added. The blank look on Emma’s face was enough of an answer for both of them.

 

“You’re serious!” Ruby accused, before proceeding to exclaim, “Regina Mills is a freaking hot and talented artiste! She doesn’t just sing, but she acts as well. She is amazing!”

 

Emma simply shrugged, “Like I mentioned before, just another passenger. Now David, quick run through?”

 

Ruby left after that, leaving Emma and David to settle their flight plans. Emma was pleased with the decisions David made regarding the route and fuel levels and thus, decided to follow his flight plans. The two of them then proceeded to complete their checks on the aircraft.

 

Emma took one glance at her watch and instructed David to do the take-off checklist. Both David and Ruby, who happened to be in the cockpit, looked at her in surprise.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“We can’t take off yet. Regina Mills hasn’t gotten on. We should probably wait for her,” Ruby said.

 

Emma looked at Ruby, clearly unimpressed by what she just said. Ruby gulped and quickly added, “Of course, you’re the pilot here. I’ll leave the two of you to your preparations and go check on the passengers.”

 

Before Ruby could flee the cockpit, Emma stopped her. Ruby gasped in surprise.

 

“As pilots, our responsibility is to bring all our passengers to their destinations safely and punctually. Both the pilots and crew members have to provide good service to all passengers, not just famous first-class passengers. Do you two understand this?”

 

Both Ruby and David nodded. Emma checked her watch and then scribbled something on a piece of paper before handing it over to Ruby.

 

“We just wasted three minutes which indicates that I have waited for Miss Mills for an extra three minutes and left cabin doors open for that extra three minutes. Please pass this note to the ground staff and inform them that it’s for our esteemed guest who failed to make it.”

 

Once Ruby left, David turned to Emma and said seriously, “I hope you don’t regret this decision, Emma. Regina Mills isn’t just famous, she has connections in high places as well.”

 

Emma simply shrugged. “At least I’m living up to my principles and have done my best here. You of all people should know the importance of taking off punctually. If I had spent more time waiting, we’d fail in that aspect. Now, take-off checklist please.”


	2. Chapter 2

Regina smiled as she gently stroked Henry’s hair. He had finally fallen asleep after refusing to go to bed despite it having been a long day. It had taken much coaxing before he agreed to go to sleep. She lifted the blanket and tucked it around the young boy, ensuring that he was safely bundled up before placing her palm over Henry’s forehead. She was glad to find that it felt cool and that his fever had finally subsided. She placed a kiss on his forehead and slid into the other bed in the hotel room.

 

As she lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling of the foreign room, she began to reflect upon the events of the day. The morning begun rather eventfully, with Henry waking up with stomach flu. He had been running a fever and was vomiting. It took a while to get him to feel better and once the medication kicked in, he was able to leave the house. However, in the time it took to care for Henry, Regina was running late for her flight and had already tried her very best to rush to the airport with her entourage in tow. They still failed to make it in time. It’s Emma Swan’s fault, Regina had determined. After all, there were five minutes left to departure and the pilot refused to wait for another two minutes.

 

They spent another hour at the airport before Sidney was able to get them on another flight. They flew economy class, but Regina didn’t exactly mind since it was more important for her to get to Los Angeles. After all, the flight was short. What bothered her was the fact that Henry’s fever had returned by then and he had to spend the entire journey in discomfort. That made her even angrier with the fact that Emma Swan put her in this predicament.

 

It was late afternoon when they finally arrived in Los Angeles and they had rushed to the studio. Regina had attempted to get Henry to head over to the hotel to recuperate with a member of her entourage but he refused to. Thus, she had no choice but to bring him along with her on her photo shoot for Vogue magazine. She felt incredibly lucky to have this opportunity and that they agreed to postpone her shoot because she missed her flight. She was certain that she would make Emma Swan pay if the other woman had cost her this opportunity.

 

Emma Swan. Just the thought of her name made Regina angry. It was worse because at this time, all Regina wanted was to go to sleep. However, how could she when all that filled her thoughts was the predicament Emma Swan put her in?

 

She bit back a frustrated growl, fully aware that her son was sleeping soundly in the bed next to hers. She let out a soft huff and reached for her phone, which was on the nightstand next to her bed. It was time to find out exactly what this Emma Swan was like.

 

Googling Emma Swan, she was surprised to find images of a relatively young blonde staring back at her. She had expected Emma Swan to be a middle-aged woman. That piqued her curiosity further and she began to read up on whatever information was available about the younger woman.

           

From her pictures, most of which had Emma Swan decked in a smart uniform, Regina could tell that Emma wasn’t just young for a Captain but beautiful as well. According to the airline, Captain Swan remains one of the youngest women to achieve the status of Captain at the age of twenty-six. Regina was impressed by what she found but kept her reservations against Emma. Should Regina ever come across the female pilot again, rest assured, the other woman will face her wrath. Finally satisfied with her research, Regina returned her phone to its original position on her nightstand and went to sleep.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Emma grinned at David once they had landed in Los Angeles. Giving him a pat on the back, she praised him for the great landing. She did not understand why it took David so long before he was willing to climb the ranks to become Captain but Emma was confident that the blond would make it on his first attempt.

 

Just as the two of them were finishing up their flight reports, there was a knock on the cockpit door which revealed to be two of the air stewardesses once Emma had buzzed them in. Ruby handed Emma a cup of water before settling down on the seat behind Emma’s. Mary Margaret happily handed David a packet of food and proceeded to plant a kiss on his lips before sitting down behind him.

 

Both Emma and Ruby groaned at the couple’s blatant display of affection.

 

 “Really, you guys? Couldn’t it wait? We’re still in the cockpit, for goodness’ sake,” Emma whined. She then turned to pout at Ruby.

 

“And why does he have food? Where’s mine?”

 

Sorry, Captain, it was a short flight and there was only one packet left. It’s economy class food and I know you hate that,” Ruby replied apologetically.

 

David looked guiltily at Emma, stealing a couple of glances at the packet of food in his hands. He was about to offer it to Emma when she held out a hand to reject him.

 

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’ll just grab something at the hotel,” She smiled. Emma may be hungry, but Ruby was right about her dislike for economy class food on short-haul flights. They sucked and Emma was usually better off getting her own meals.

 

“So, do you guys have any plans for tonight?” She asked casually, seeing as they were only flying back to New York the following day.

 

Mary Margaret’s and David’s stolen glances at each other were enough for her. She raised a hand to stop them before they could answer anything that would scar her for life and turned to Ruby.

 

Ruby looked at her best friend sheepishly and said, “Well, I’ve got a date tonight.”

 

“Already? You’ll only be here for a night!” Emma retorted incredulously.

 

“Yeah, met this lady online and we hit off immediately. She happened to be here in LA tonight so we thought that we’d meet and see where this goes,” Ruby explained, a soft blush creeping up her neck.

 

Emma couldn’t help but grin, “Well then, it looks like I’ll be alone tonight. All the best for your date.”

 

That evening, Emma decided to skip the opportunity to visit her favorite restaurant in LA and simply order from Room Service. She was simply not in the mood to head out. Apparently, Regina Mills works quickly. Her supervisors had already received a complaint from a certain Sidney Glass regarding what happened in the morning. They requested her to write an extra report regarding the matter. Although Emma’s job required her to write reports, it did not necessarily mean that she liked writing them. It was an activity that she abhorred but had no choice but to do them.

 

She sighed as she recalled the phone call from her supervisors. Whoever Regina Mills is, she had just cost Emma the time it took for the blonde to finish the report. It irked her that someone would abuse her fame and power this way and expect all crew members and passengers to go her way. Did the other woman not understand that there were greater powers at play here? A minute’s delay could cost both the airline and the airport millions of dollars. If Regina Mills expected a plane to wait for her, she might as well hire a private jet. Emma was pretty sure that the other woman could afford that.

 

Emma was about to take a huge bite out of her burger when the entertainment news came on. Needless to say, the first public figure who was on the news happened to be Regina Mills. All there was was an image of Regina Mills but Emma froze with the burger in her mouth, her eyes bulging as she stared at the image on the television. She had tuned out the newscaster and only broke from her trance when the newscaster moved on to talk about an actor she didn’t know.

 

Why hadn’t anybody told Emma that Regina Mills is hot as hell?

 

Sure, she had expected Regina to be really pretty but the woman in the picture was not what she expected her to be. Emma had expected a 20 year-old bimbo with fake boobs but Regina Mills was anything but that. She appeared to be in her thirties and was rocking leather pants and a corset.

 

“Damn,” Emma muttered before rushing to turn on her laptop. She had to find out exactly who Regina Mills is.

 

Emma was not surprised to discover that Regina Mills has a rather lengthy Wikipedia page. According to the page, Regina began her career playing gigs at various clubs at 17. She got discovered at 18 and that sparked off her career as a singer-songwriter. However, her career was cut short when she disappeared from showbiz a year later and only returned two years later, at 21 years old. Little is known about the two years during which she disappeared from showbiz other than the fact that she had a son.

 

Emma continued to read up on Regina, learning about her politician mother, Cora Mills, and Zelena Mills, her half-sister who took over her father’s business when Regina refused to step up. Other than the names of her more-prominent family members, little information was available about Regina’s private life.

 

By the time Emma was done reading up on Regina, her fries had turned soggy and her burger was cold. She had learned little about the brunette’s private life, although there was plenty to learn about the woman’s career. Regina was a singer-turned-actress and has won numerous awards throughout her career. Her transition from a singer to an actress seemed to revolve around her role in a musical film adaptation of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’ when she was 25. Her prominent role as the Evil Queen won her an Academy Award and she began acting.

 

Once Emma had read through the Wikipedia page, she discovered that she was having conflicted feelings about Regina Mills. On one hand, she really did not want to face the unreasonable woman. On the other hand, she hoped that one day, she would be able to meet her.

 

“Please don’t tell me I’m turning into a fan girl,” Emma groaned. 


	3. Chapter 3

“Henry, honey. It’s time to wake up,” Regina gently shook her son awake. Henry groaned and pushed her hand away before turning on his side. Regina smiled at her son’s antics and continued to attempt to wake him up.

 

“Henry Mills, if you do not wake up now, I’m going to have to resort to tickling you,” She threatened, her hand already positioned at his side to show that she was serious. At that moment, Henry’s eyes sprang open and he immediately got up.

 

“Okay, Mom, I’m awake!”

 

Regina chuckled and placed her hand over Henry’s forehead to check if his fever had returned overnight. She was pleased to be greeted with a cool forehead and smiled lovingly at her half-awake son, “Your fever’s fully gone now. Are you still feeling nauseous? I think that you should stick to a clear diet just in case anyway.”

 

Henry merely nodded and replied with a sleep-laced voice, “Not nauseous anymore.”

 

“Now get up and go wash up. We’ve got a flight to catch and I don’t want a repeat of yesterday morning.”

 

Henry pushed himself off the bed groggily and headed to the bathroom, grabbing his clothes on the way. Regina returned to the packing she was doing prior to waking Henry up.

 

Just as she had finished packing, a knock sounded on the door. She opened it to let Sidney and the rest of her entourage in. Sidney began to brief her on her schedule for the day as her hair and makeup artists did their magic.

 

“Our flight to New York is with Enchanted Airline and just a heads up, the pilot happens to be Emma Swan again,” Sidney began, stealing glances at Regina to check if she was angry about that. When that failed to elicit any reaction from the brunette, he continued.

 

“Your schedule remains clear for today, although you do have an extra job for the summer that is scheduled to begin next week.”

 

That got Regina’s attention. Her eyes snapped up to glare at Sidney’s reflection in the mirror and he visibly gulped.

 

“Why do I have an extra job? Did I not make it clear that other than the pre-scheduled interviews and photo shoots, the only jobs I’d take on this summer would have to be related to the publicity for Snow White 2? I specifically told you that my summers are reserved for Henry, didn’t I?” She snapped.

 

Sidney took a deep breath before replying calmly, “Cora arranged it, Regina.”

 

That shut Regina up effectively. Of course her mother had something to do with this. Sidney would never have the guts to achieve something like that otherwise. She should have expected it earlier.

 

Garnering no further reaction from Regina, Sidney decided to continue, “Cora heard about what happened yesterday and arranged for you to do a commercial for Enchanted Airlines.”

 

At that, Regina looked up once more. “A commercial? You’re kidding, right? I have my own image to maintain and she’s asking me to do a commercial for the airline?” Regina exclaimed, attracting the attention of Henry who had just emerged from the bathroom.

 

He furrowed his eyebrows with concern. “You okay, Mom?”

 

“Yes, Henry. I’m fine. It appears that I have an extra commercial to film this summer, courtesy of your grandmother,” she sighed, looking at her son apologetically.

 

“It’s alright, Mom. We’d still be able to spend time together right? It doesn’t matter where we are as long as we’re together,” He reassured her, fully aware of what his grandmother was like.

 

Sensing that it was safe for him to speak again, Sidney revealed the details of this new commercial that Regina had to film. “Cora has arranged for Emma Swan to be part of the team from Enchanted Airlines. The commercial will revolve around you being a pilot and advertising the wonderful service standards of the airline with a song.”

 

Regina cringed at how cheesy the advertisement already sounded. On the bright side, it would certainly be interesting to work with Emma Swan. A short flight wouldn’t be enough to get the blonde back for yesterday, but the filming for the commercial would. Now, Regina Mills was looking forward to filming that cheesy commercial.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Emma overslept and as such, she was unable to enjoy breakfast at the hotel since the car that was coming to fetch them to the airport was due to arrive in thirty minutes. She rushed to get ready and was glad that all she had to pack was her pajamas, which was really just a tank top and panties. She managed to make it downstairs with five minutes to spare.

 

When she arrived at the lobby, it was to her dismay to see that Ruby, David and Mary Margaret were already sitting at one of the numerous couches. Ruby was grinning smugly at her when she finally joined the group after checking out.

 

David took one glance at his watch before grinning, “One minute to go, Emma.”

 

“Wow, I never thought I’d see Emma Swan being nearly late on a day when she has to fly,” Mary Margaret teased.

 

“Okay, guys, stop it. I overslept this morning, end of story,” Emma sighed. Her eyes lit up when Ruby handed her a doughnut.

 

“They didn’t have any bear claws so I got you this.”

 

Emma happily took the doughnut from the younger brunette and took a bite out of it. “Gee, thanks. You don’t happen to have any coffee with you, do you?”

 

When Ruby shook her head, Emma prayed that she would be able to find drinkable coffee in the airport.

 

Emma could not believe that she had forgotten about the premier lounges in the airports that they had access to. There was quality coffee and food and the best part about it? Well, it was free, for her, at least. Such are the perks of being a pilot with Enchanted Airlines. Their schedule had been planned in such a way to allow for traffic congestion on the way to the airport but since traffic was smooth that day, the four of them had reached the airport fairly early. In fact, it was early enough for Emma to sit here in this lounge to enjoy a nice cup of coffee and a meal before getting ready for the flight.

 

On Emma’s second visit to the buffet table, she caught sight of a little boy no older than ten. He had dark hair and was dressed in jeans and a white button-up. He was on tip-toes and was trying to reach the tea bags placed on one of the high shelves. She smiled at the boy’s adorable attempt and walked over to him.

 

“Hey kid, which one do you want?” She asked, placing a hand on his shoulder to stop him from tip-toeing. The boy turned around and his eyes widened when he saw the woman behind him.

 

“Oh cool! You’re a pilot! A girl pilot!” He couldn’t help but blurt out.

 

Chuckling at what the boy had just said, Emma nodded, “Yes, I’m a female pilot. Now, which of these teabags were you attempting to get?”

 

“The apple one please,” The boy flashed her a bright grin. “My mom really loves things with apples.”

 

Emma got a sachet of Apple tea and handed it over to the boy. “Ah, I see. Here you go. I prefer hot chocolate myself. I need coffee right now, but I usually have hot chocolate. It’s even better if you have whipped cream and cinnamon to go with it.”

 

The boy was now looking at her like he’d just found the best thing in the world. Emma found out why when he said excitedly, “Really? Me too! It’s really tasty but no one else ever drinks it this way! Now I’ve found someone who drinks hot chocolate and adds cinnamon to it!”

 

Emma laughed at how excited he was and helped him fill a cup with hot water before proceeding to make herself her second cup of coffee. “Well, kid, you better run along and return to your mother before she starts to worry.”

 

The boy smiled widely at her and then carefully brought the cup of tea towards one of the private rooms in the lounge. Emma then returned her attention to the buffet table. There was no one else around so she could simply leave her cup of coffee next to the coffee machine and quickly grab more of those delicious Danish pastries they had available.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

“Captain Swan! Regina Mills is on today’s flight too!” Ruby nearly shrieked the moment she was buzzed into the cockpit.

 

“I really don’t care, Ruby. You need to compose yourself as well. We wouldn’t want out First-class passengers to get the impression that our air stewardesses behave like one of those fan girls, do we?” If Emma was surprised by the information, she didn’t show it. To be honest, she was slightly excited at the thought of seeing the artiste in real life, but she chose not to reveal it to anyone. Her research on the woman the previous night has made her more curious than ever.

 

Sensing that she wasn’t going to get any reaction out of Emma, Ruby sighed, “Fine. You can’t blame me for being excited though. You’ve never seen the woman so you wouldn’t know how I feel.”

 

“Just a tip, Ruby. When she comes on board and you serve her, it may be better to remain polite and calm,” David said, garnering two confused gazes.

 

“Why?” Ruby asked.

 

“I’ve…just heard that she is not an easy person to deal with,” David tried to explain. Ruby seemed to buy that explanation and simply shrugged before turning to leave.

 

“I will. When have I ever treated our passengers with anything but first-class service anyway?” Ruby smirked. “She’s already on the plane, by the way.”

 

“Well, it’s good that she’s early for once,” Emma muttered as Ruby closed the cockpit door behind her.

 

“Captain, you don’t know if she’s usually a punctual person,” David said cryptically.

 

“Well, maybe she is but from what I experienced yesterday, she isn’t,” Emma retorted. She then quickly added, “Now, let’s get ready for take-off.”

 

Once the plane was cruising at altitude and on auto-pilot, Emma left David in-charge in the cockpit and left to get some rest in the first-class cabin. She was hoping to find Ruby and get her to make her a cup of hot chocolate. Before she could find Ruby, however, the door to one of the lavatories opened and a surprised voice called out to her.

 

“Hey! It’s you, Miss Pilot!”

 

Emma turned to find the boy from earlier grinning happily at her. She smiled and was about to say hello when a fruity voice interrupted them.

 

“There you are, Henry. I was beginning to wonder why you were taking this long in the bathroom.”

 

When Emma turned around to see who the boy’s mother was, she came face-to-face with Regina Mills. 


	4. Chapter 4

“Mom!” Henry exclaimed the moment he entered the private room in the lounge, trying his best to balance the cup of tea on its saucer.

 

“Yes, Henry? Thank you for the tea,” Regina smiled lovingly at her son as she took the cup of tea from him. She inhaled the soft scent of apples before taking a sip.

 

“I met this female pilot and she was so cool! She helped me get the tea bag for you because I couldn’t reach it,” the younger brunette babbled on excitedly. “She drinks Hot Chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon too!”

 

She chuckled at the boy’s excitement, “Well, the two of you must be kindred spirits. I never understood where you got the love for drinking hot chocolate that way.”

 

“Well, are you done with that, dear? We have to go soon,” Regina said, indicating to the half-drunk cup of hot chocolate in front of Henry. She finished the last of her tea before waiting for Henry to finish his drink.

 

The two of them headed straight to the private security zone. Once they got through their second security check since arriving at the airport, they were led on board the plane via a separate jet bridge from the one that the Business Class and Economy Class passengers used.

 

They were greeted by a tall brunette air stewardess, who introduced herself the moment mother and son stepped on board, “Good afternoon, Miss Mills and Mr. Mills. It is a pleasure to have the two of you on board today. My name is Ruby and I’ll be your air stewardess for the flight. Please follow me to your seats.”

 

Ruby led them to a pair of seats right at the front of the plane. Before the stewardess could say anything else, Regina dismissed her, “I’m sure we’ll be fine here, Miss Ruby. I’ll alert you should either my son or I require your assistance.”

 

Understanding that she was being dismissed, Ruby acknowledged it politely before heading into the cockpit in search for Emma.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is your Captain speaking. On behalf of Enchanted Airlines and the crew, I welcome you on board EA108. The weather today is pleasant and as such, we shouldn’t be experiencing much turbulence. We will reach New York at approximately 5.37 p.m. We wish you a pleasant journey on board and thank you for travelling with Enchanted Airlines,” a modulated voice filled the cabin.

 

It was the first time since finding out about Emma Swan that Regina heard her speak and she had to admit that the blonde had a rather pleasant voice. Meanwhile, Henry was practically bouncing on his seat at the thought of having a female pilot.

 

Emma Swan was right when she said that they would not get much turbulence. Regina managed to get some sleep within the first two hours of the flight without being woken up by jolts or other factors. It was, in fact, Henry who woke her up.

 

“Mom, I need to go to the bathroom,” he whispered. Regina sat up and looked around the cabin, before noticing that the washroom was just in front of them.

 

“Go on, be careful,” she replied, nodding her head in the direction of the lavatory.

 

When Henry did not return after ten minutes, she decided to go and search for him instead. She should have known that the curious boy would have met someone on the way and was speaking to them.

 

Rolling her eyes, she called out, “There you are, Henry. I was beginning to wonder why you were taking this long in the bathroom.”

 

Henry gave her a sheepish smile, “Sorry, Mom, I was just talking to Miss Pilot. The one I met at the lounge, remember?”

 

The pilot Henry was talking to turned around to face her and Regina came face-to-face with Emma Swan. The pictures she found on Google did not do the woman justice. The blonde in front of her was a lot prettier.

 

_Get a grip on yourself._ She mentally scolded herself before regaining her composure.

 

“Why, hello, Captain Swan. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” Regina purred with a dangerous glint in her eye.

 

 Regina watched, amused, as Emma’s eyes widened comically.

 

“H…Hi, Miss Mills,” Emma Swan greeted.

 

“So, you do know who I am.” Regina smirked and stepped forward, causing Emma to take a quick step backwards.

 

“Tell me, Captain Swan, did you know who the ‘Miss Mills’ in your note was, or did you only learn about my identity when your superiors contacted you?”

 

Regina studied Emma Swan intently, watching as confusion and then anger flashed across Emma’s eyes.

 

“Seriously, lady!” Emma hissed. “Have you got any idea how our regulations work? Who do you think you are anyway? If you expect a plane to wait for you, hire a private jet.”

 

“Guys! Please, stop. It was my fault, okay? I got sick so it was my fault that we were late and we missed the plane,” Henry said, trying to keep his volume low. The poor boy was clearly upset and that shut both women up effectively.

 

“Look what you’ve done, Captain,” Regina sneered. Her expression softened though when she turned to face Henry, who was now scowling at the both of them.

 

“Mom,” Henry warned.

 

Regina sighed, “Alright, I’m sorry.”

 

Henry seemed satisfied that she was no longer picking a fight with the pilot. He gave her a small smile, which she returned with one of her own.

 

It was a second later that the blonde spoke, “I…I should probably head back to the cockpit. Enjoy your flight, Miss Mills, Mr. Mills.”

 

Regina refused to let the Captain have the last word. The other woman infuriated her. It sparked off something in her that even she could not explain herself. Initially, she was mostly annoyed with Emma Swan for making accusations about her “lack of concept of punctuality” when she did not understand the entire picture. However, something changed when she met the woman in person and discovered that she also happened to be the pilot that her son had spoken so highly about. The annoyance changed to frustration and a need to put the other woman down in front of her son. She found that the frustration increased when she realized that she was also slightly attracted to the blonde, something that should and can never happen.

 

Before Emma Swan was able to make her way to the cockpit, the brunette piped in, “I’m sure we will, Captain. As pleasant as this meeting was, I’m sure that our collaboration would be even more so. See you soon, dear. ”

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Emma’s blood was boiling when she returned to the cockpit. She had to take a deep breath to calm herself before she knocked on the door. When David buzzed her in, he looked surprised and confused with regards to her quick return.

 

“Don’t say a word. Just give me a moment,” Emma said as she took her seat. David simply shrugged and returned to what he had been doing before Emma came back in.

 

Emma was unsure if her decision to forgo her hot chocolate had been a good one. She surmised that perhaps it was a better choice than to face Regina Mills. It had taken every ounce of self-control in her not to turn back and give the other woman the satisfaction of seeing that confused look on her face.

 

Now that she was back in the cockpit, protected by the door that stood between Regina Mills and her, Emma finally got a moment to think about what the brunette had mentioned as her parting words. Whatever did Regina Mills mean by that? Since when did Emma agree to collaborate on anything with her? God, this woman would be the death of her. Deciding that it would be wiser to concentrate on her job, rather than dwell on something like that, Emma put on her headset and said, “I have control.”

 

David turned to her and nodded, allowing the Captain to take over. “You have control.”

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

It didn’t take long for Emma to find out what Regina Mills meant when she spoke of the collaboration. She found out the moment she headed to the Enchanted Airlines office to submit her flight report and was summoned to her boss’ office.

           

“Mr. Gold,” Emma greeted when she entered the man’s office. Robert Gold is her boss and the CEO of Enchanted Airlines. He held the second-highest amount of shares in the company. Emma had no idea who the mystery shareholder with the highest amount of shares was though.

 

“Ah, Captain Swan. Do come in and have a seat,” Mr. Gold smiled menacingly, gold tooth glinting. Emma hated dealing with the man but had no choice in the matter.

 

“Captain, if you recall that little misunderstanding you had with Ms. Mills-” Before Robert Gold could continue, however, Emma interrupted.

 

“With all due respect, sir, it was not a misunderstanding. The woman was being plain unreasonable!”

 

“Ah, Captain Swan, stop interrupting. That is a bad habit of yours, dearie. Regardless of what it was, it has been decided that you will be working with Ms. Mills on the company’s latest commercial. You will be advising the team, of course. As for Ms. Mills, she will be the star of the commercial.”

 

“Damn it, Gold. Do I not have a say in this? Why do I have to do this again?”

 

“It has been decided, Captain. If it helps, neither of you have a say in this. Furthermore, it benefits the airline. You know the consequences if you fail to turn up at the stipulated address next week,” Gold said with finality, throwing a yellow folder over to Emma.

 

A fuming Emma stormed out of his office, knowing that he was right. No one messed with Robert Gold. The consequences were simply too severe. One word from him and your entire career would be over. Resigned to her fate, she opened the file to read its content and prepared herself for the storm coming for her next week. 


	5. Chapter 5

It turned out there was a perfectionist side to Emma that she hadn’t even known about. It all boiled down to the details when it came to filming the commercial. In Emma’s defense, she was passionate about flying and she really hated it when people got the details wrong.

 

Everything was wrong. The director and his team got all their facts wrong. Who the hell told them that the Captain sat on the right in the cockpit anyway? And God, which freaking air stewardess would serve the pilots drinks directly over the middle panel?

 

Oh. Fuck. Did they just call her name? Oh crap. The director wanted her to demonstrate now. He seemed to be pissed off with her. Regina was simply sitting in her seat in the mock-cockpit on set and the director wanted her to take over the position of the male actor.

 

Reluctantly, Emma got off her seat, turning to give Henry an unsure smile. Her smile only set the child off on a series of muffled giggles. They have been at this for a couple of hours now, and Emma found herself becoming fast friends with Henry Mills. The kid was cute, she must admit. Regina Mills, on the other hand, was still a bitch. The woman was gorgeous and talented, Emma could see that. Yet, she has still treated Emma indifferently the entire morning. The only consolation was that Regina treated the director and his crew the same way too.

 

Settling in the seat next to Regina’s, Emma began to explain the procedure of a take-off checklist and showed Regina the correct switches to flip.

 

“And to take-off, you pull back this way. Don’t treat this like a steering wheel. It doesn’t work that way. You ready to try this on your own?” Emma asked once she was done explaining all the basic details.

 

Regina simply nodded and began to follow the steps that Emma had outlined earlier. As Emma observed the brunette, she couldn’t help but let her eye fall upon the other woman’s lips. Regina had her bottom lip captured between her teeth as she concentrated on ensuring that she got the steps right. It was hot and adorable at the same time.

 

“So, ladies. You ready?” The director’s voice interrupted her thoughts and forced Emma back into the present. She looked around nervously, hoping that no one caught her staring at Regina Mills’ lips.

 

_What on earth were you thinking, Emma Swan? That woman is dangerous and off-limits! Don’t even go there!_ She mentally berated herself and resisted the urge to hit herself hard in the head.

 

Regina had already looked up and assured the director that she was ready. Emma hurried to acknowledge the director’s words and waited for the next set of instructions.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

_Interesting._ Regina thought. She had noticed Emma staring at her lips as she mimicked the way Emma did her take-off checklist. That darn Killian Jones had to interrupt them though. Mr. Jones had a reputation for being an idiot. Perhaps that was why he never made it big as a director and producer. The only reason he got this job was because of his ties with her mother and Gold.

 

As they waited for Killian to finish preparing his team and come over to brief them, Regina decided that perhaps it was time for a little fun based on what she had just caught Emma doing. Leaning over until her lips were next to Emma’s ear, she spoke with a husky voice, “Captain Swan, did I do it to your liking?”

 

She watched with amusement as Emma’s eyes widened and the slight shiver that followed went unnoticed.

 

“W…What? Oh, erm, yeah. You did it right,” Emma squeaked. That set off a throaty laugh from Regina, earning the brunette a frown which turned into a scowl from Emma.

 

Killian, always with the perfect timing, interrupted the ladies once again. “Okay, we decided to fire the male actor because he wasn’t helping much. Emma, you’ll be taking over. I’ve just got the best idea ever!”

 

Regina pinched the bridge of her nose. She had a feeling that she wouldn’t like what was about to come. When Killian Jones calls one of his ideas ‘the best idea ever’, it usually sucked. It was as if the commercial alone wasn’t cheesy enough.

 

“Alright, so, we thought of incorporating romance between your characters! So, once you take-off, mid-flight, Emma, you’ll pull Regina in for a kiss. It doesn’t have to be a real kiss, of course. You ladies just lean close and angle your heads this way and let the cameras do the rest!” Killian half-sang as he used his hands to model the way they should position their heads. “Then we’ll pan over to Regina’s musical sequence and well, Regina will do most of the dancing. But right at the end, Emma, we need you to come in and dip her. The Tango dip would be perfect. Okay, ladies?”

 

The fact that neither women responded should be indication that neither were okay with his plan. Yet, Killian Jones being Killian Jones, was thick-headed and took the silence as consent, “Good! Let’s get to filming!”

 

Regina sat there, mouth gaping slightly. How the heck was that a good idea? She turned to Emma, who was now sitting there with her eyes wide open, staring at the retreating figure of Killian. The blonde appeared stunned and having no clue regarding what just happened. She did seem to notice Regina turning to look at her. Perplexed eyes met, reflecting each other’s disbelief at the scene that just occurred. It was Regina who broke the silence.

 

“What. The. Hell?” she exclaimed. The moment the words left her mouth, both women broke into giggles.

 

“He’s the only one who thinks that that was a good idea, isn’t he?” Emma grinned once their giggles subsided. Regina never thought she’d let loose like that so quickly in front of Emma Swan. She simply nodded as her giggles began afresh.

 

It took another minute for Regina to calm down before Killian could begin filming. He had absolutely no idea why the women were laughing that hard but grinned anyway. “Take your places, ladies. Alright, action!”

 

Regina did as Emma taught her to, flipping the relevant switches and pressing the correct buttons as she said her lines. Once ‘mid-flight’, they did as Killian instructed before. Both women were determined to get it done and over with in one take, but couldn’t help but feel the urge to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. It was a horribly cheesy idea that had no basis at all. Regina could feel her mouth twitch as she tried to control the urge to start laughing.

 

Emma appeared to be doing the same as they angled their heads to move in for the ‘kiss’. The moment they were inches apart, however, any urge to laugh disappeared. Brown eyes stared into Emma’s blue-green ones and Emma found her eyes drifting down to Regina’s full, red lips. Regina felt her mouth go dry as her lips parted slightly and her tongue darted out. Emma nervously swallowed as their faces moved impossibly closer.

 

“Cut! Well done, everyone! We can now run through the music sequence before we wrap for the day. But let’s first have a break,” Killian’s shout shocked the women as they leapt apart. Regina sat back immediately, her cheeks tinted pink. Emma, on the other hand, pushed back too hard on the roller-chair she was sitting in and travelled a distance before falling backwards.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Emma did not expect to fall so spectacularly on her back. She could feel her cheeks heat up with embarrassment as Killian and his crew burst into laughter at her clumsiness. She heard Regina gasp before the brunette was kneeling next to her, glancing at her with concern. Regina sent a sharp glare at those who were still laughing, silencing them effectively.

 

“Emma? Are you okay?” She asked as she helped the blonde up.

 

Emma groaned as she felt the pain in her shoulder and her lower back. She was definitely getting too old for this. “I think I hurt my shoulder and back.”

 

Regina helped Emma to the couch where Henry had been sitting in the entire morning. Killian, who saw that Emma was indeed in pain, decided to call it a day, although he made sure to show his annoyance as he did so. Regina was visibly fuming at the man’s insensitivity but managed to not lose her temper with him as she held onto Emma’s arm. Regina, Emma and Henry were left alone as everyone around them packed up.

 

“Captain Emma, are you alright?” Henry asked, concern etched onto his face. Emma tried to smile at him in reassurance but he did not look convinced. The boy turned to his mother. “Mom, you could do the massage thing! Captain Emma seems to be in a lot of pain, like Grandpa sometimes gets. Mom’s massages are awesome.”

 

Regina chuckled, “Well, Captain Swan, my son has spoken. Lay on your stomach please.”

 

Emma looked at the blonde with uncertainty, “Are you sure about this?”

 

“Yes, I am, Captain. Now, lay down please.”

 

“Emma,” Emma said.

 

“What?”

 

“Call me Emma. I know you can, you did so a couple of minutes ago,” Emma grinned.

 

“Very well, Emma. Now, may I?” Regina asked. The blonde did as Regina instructed and couldn’t help but let out a soft moan as the brunette’s hands worked on the knot in her shoulders.

 

“You’re really tense. These long hours on the flights really do a lot to your body. I think the fall just set off what was about to come sooner or later,” Regina commented as her hands moved down Emma’s back.

 

Emma sighed. Regina’s hands were magical. They were working her knots so effectively and she could feel her muscles loosening up. It was then that she felt a sharp pain in her lower back as Regina pressed on the area and she let out a yelp.

 

“Ah, I apologize for that. It had to be done. Here, every time this part acts up, just massage the area like that.” Regina rubbed hard circles on Emma’s lower back with her thumb as she demonstrated to Emma.

 

Emma simply nodded and nearly voiced a groan of disappointment when Regina’s hands left her back.

 

“There you go. Does it hurt less now?”

 

“Yeah, it’s so much better. You’re a miracle worker, Regina. Thank you.”

 

“I told you that mom’s massages are awesome!” Henry piped up. Emma had nearly forgotten that the boy was there with them.

 

“Yeah, she’s good.” Emma smiled gratefully at Regina as she said that. “Where’d you learn all that?”

 

Regina’s eyes darkened for a moment before she cleared her throat and replied, “Years of being on the road. It’s a necessary skill to learn.”

 

Emma knew that there was more to that than Regina had let on, but she knew better than to pry. After all, she has only known the woman for a few days. “Oh, I see. I’ll remember what you taught me. Thanks again.”

 

“You’re welcome.” Regina gave her a small smile before heading to pack her belongings. Her entourage has done most of it, so they were ready to leave in a couple of minutes.

 

“See you soon, Emma,” Regina said before she left. Emma couldn’t help but smile and marveled at the way her name rolled off the brunette’s tongue.

 

_See you soon, Regina._

That night, as Emma lay in her bed and pondered over the day’s activities, she couldn’t help but smile as she thought about Regina Mills. The woman treated her rather coldly in the beginning, which was understandable, given their rocky beginning. The surprising thing was how quickly Regina changed and warmed up to her over their mutual agreement on how ridiculous Killian Jones was. Emma could not help but grin as she recalled the way Regina giggled with her. She smiled as she remembered how professional and talented the brunette was.

 

Despite being alone in her room, she still felt her cheeks heat up as memories of their near-kiss flitted across her mind. Emma thought of Regina’s hands on her back and the woman’s magical touch. She unconsciously brought her hand to her lower back and tried to mimic the way Regina had massaged her back to the best of her ability. It was then that Emma realized that there was another side to Regina Mills, and Emma wanted to be the one who learned it all.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

Meanwhile, in her penthouse, Regina shut the door to her room and settled into bed, having just tucked Henry in moments ago. For the second night since she first encountered Captain Emma Swan, Regina found herself thinking of the woman once again. She had begun the day with dread, wanting to get the filming done and over with and hoping to have to interact with Emma as little as possible. Yet, as they started to work on the commercial, she had found that Emma was passionate about her career and was determined to ensure that all details were reflected in the right way within the commercial.

 

Despite trying to treat Emma as she did the rest of the crew or perhaps worse, she found herself growing to like the blonde’s work ethics and trying to meet the blonde’s standards. Regina did not miss the blonde’s attraction to her, recalling how she tried to tease the blonde about it, only to have it backfire on her when she found herself yearning to close the distance between their lips during filming.

 

Regina’s smile fell when she recalled Emma’s question about where she had learned her massage techniques from. Emma Swan doesn’t know but it was Daniel who had educated her in that when he was still alive. Her heart ached for her first love and tears threatened to fall. It has been eleven years but the pain was always there. Daniel had taught her the techniques after long hours on the road, travelling to nearby towns to play gigs.

_Daniel._ Daniel was enough reason to not become enamored with the blonde.

 

_But remember his last words to you._

_Love again, Regina._ He had instructed her. She knew exactly what he meant, but she always took it as him asking her to love Henry.

 

_Don’t be stupid, Regina. He didn’t even know about Henry then. Neither did you. Stop giving yourself excuses._ Regina let out a frustrated groan into her pillow. Perhaps, just perhaps, it was time to open her heart to another. 


	6. Chapter 6

Due to conflicts in their schedules, their next filming wasn’t for another week. For some reason, Regina found herself missing the blonde. It wasn’t until the day after the first day of filming that she made any attempts to contact Emma.

 

Henry had given her a knowing grin when she sighed for the fourth time that morning during breakfast. Regina gave her son an incredulous look and huffed, “What is it, Henry?”

 

“You like her,” He stated before stuffing a huge piece of pancake into his mouth.

 

“Who?” She asked, despite already knowing the answer.

 

“Captain Emma, duh.”

 

“Who said that I like her? I don’t like her and I don’t miss her either,” Regina defended herself, only to realize that she had revealed too much.

 

“I never said anything about missing her,” Henry smirked. “Although, if you do miss her, perhaps you should text her or something.”

 

Henry had planted the idea in her head and she found herself barking at Sidney to get him to obtain Emma’s number for her after breakfast. It had taken the man ten minutes, which was still too long a time for Regina.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Emma had barely woken up when her phone vibrated, signifying the arrival of a text message. She found herself staring at the screen, trying to decipher who the unknown number belonged to.

 

The message read:

            **Good morning, Captain Swan. I hope you slept well last night.**

She replied to the message, perplexed:

_Um, good morning? May I ask who this number belongs to?_

The reply was almost instantaneous and Emma was glad that all she suffered was a tiny bump on the head when she had leapt up from the excitement of receiving a reply in the form of an image. The unknown number belonged to Regina and she had replied with a selfie. Sure, it was simply a picture of the woman smiling but Emma had already considered her day made despite waking up only a couple of minutes ago.

 

            **I hope that answered your question.**

Emma sent a picture of herself, bedhead and all, with a wide grin plastered on her face in return.

 

            **I see that you have indeed slept well last night.**

_What are you up to today?_

Emma lay in bed for ten minutes, waiting for Regina to reply to her latest message. When she received no reply, a dejected Emma set about getting ready for her day. She had a flight in a couple of hours and needed to be at the airport in an hour. Regina’s reply did come eventually, but the blonde only received it hours later, when she touched down in Paris. By then, however, it was too late for her to reply as it was already the middle of the night in New York and Regina was likely asleep.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Regina was dragged away from her phone after her last message to Emma, and as such, failed to see her reply. She had a busy day ahead, having to get ready for the premiere of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs II. Her hands were occupied as her entourage set about beautifying her for the evening ahead. It wasn’t until lunch that she was able to touch her phone after her manicure.

 

Regina had taken another selfie to reply Emma. This time, she was decked in her bathrobe and there was a towel wrapped around her head. She modeled her new nails for Emma.

 

            **Getting ready for tonight. Check out my gorgeous nails.**

When she received no reply even after several hours, she assumed that Emma was probably flying somewhere. As much as she was disappointed by the lack of a reply, she did look forward to the evening ahead. The events surrounding premieres were always fun, and this time, she had Henry with her. Once she had been squeezed into a skin-tight leather dress, she went to check on Henry only to find herself slack-jawed when she caught sight of her little prince in his suit. Henry was wearing a tailor-made English Cut suit with peak lapels. He was standing still as the stylist helped him with his bowtie. It was a simple black suit paired with a white shirt but it still made Regina’s heart clench at the thought of how grown-up her boy looked.

 

Regina gave Henry a sheepish smile when the boy caught her standing by the doorway, watching him.

 

“Look at you. You look so handsome. You really grow up too quickly…” Regina trailed off, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. She blinked them away quickly as Henry wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug.

 

“I love you, Mom,” Henry said.

 

“I love you too, my little prince. Now, shall we get a picture together?” Henry nodded and Regina got Sidney to take a quick picture of her and Henry before they set out for the premiere. Once that was done, she sent it to Emma, hoping that the blonde would receive it when she touched down.

 

            **My handsome escort and I hope that you’ve safely reached your destination. (I hope I assumed correctly that your lack of reply is because you’re otherwise occupied with your job.)**

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Emma and Regina exchanged messages frequently over the next couple of days, deciding to use text messages like Snapchat. Regina would frequently send Emma selfies, half of which included Henry. The photos generally revolved around her preparing for the various events in different places or her outfits for those occasions. Emma, on the other hand, was spending the week traveling around Paris, seeing as her return flight was not until the following week. As such, she would send Regina photos of the scenery when she visited the suburbs or of interesting things she saw around the city.

 

It was over these text messages that Emma saw a side to Regina which she never expected. From what she had previously learned on the Internet about the woman, Regina was a private person who hardly seemed to interact with many people outside of her private circle. In fact, Emma got the idea that Regina had few friends. Regina’s carefree nature in their exchange of text messages indicated to Emma that the brunette considered her a friend despite them having known each other for only a short period of time, half of which had been spent being nasty to each other.

 

It was honestly heartwarming to think that Regina thought of Emma that way. Yes, Emma was attracted to the brunette. It was not a surprising thing considering how gorgeous the woman was. Emma knew that it was perhaps near-impossible that Regina thought of her that way, but being friends was better than nothing, right? Besides, being Regina’s friend meant that Emma would likely be able to learn more about the woman and there was also the possibility that Regina would open up to her. Emma was curious about the woman’s past. She probably shouldn’t be because some things remained private for a reason. Perhaps she should just relish in the fact that the woman was willing to share anything with her at all. 


	7. Chapter 7

Regina sat on the couch in her apartment, her posture straight and regal. She held the remote to the TV in one hand and went through channels rapidly. Regina let out a bored sigh before looking around as though expecting to be chastised. Her mother would never approve of such unladylike behavior. Regina shuddered at the thought of her mother. It would not help to dwell on her mother now. It was not the time and she had plenty to handle tonight.

 

Speaking of tonight, Regina sighed for the umpteenth time that evening and glanced at her watch. Her guests were late. She was, however, not surprised. They should, however, know better than to be late for dinner with her. It has been so many years of monthly dinners and yet the couple never learned. She huffed in annoyance and turned off the TV. That insolent child would never cease to get on her nerves.

 

As if on cue, the doorbell rang and Henry rushed to open the door for their guests before Regina could. Regina knew that Henry felt uncomfortable during these dinners as well. Despite liking the couple, the sensitive boy could always feel the tension in the air. Regina has always voiced her disdain, although Henry thinks that she likes them more than she lets on.

 

The door opened to reveal Mary Margaret and David, with the latter holding a bottle of wine with an awkward smile plastered on his face. Regina was the one who broke the silence between them. “Good evening, Mary Margaret, David. Please, come in. I’m sure you must have a reason for being late, as always.”

 

David cleared his throat uncomfortably, “Um, yes. Thank you, Regina. Sorry, we were caught in the traffic.”

 

“Um, yes. Here, this is for you,” he continued, handing the bottle of wine over to the other woman. Regina accepted the wine and read the label with pursed lips, before nodding as if she approved of his choice in wine. David then entered the apartment.

 

Mary Margaret followed after her husband, stopping only to greet the other brunette, “Hello, Regina. Thank you for having us. I’m sorry we were late.”

 

“I hope you brought the documents. This meal would be for naught if you forgot to bring them,” Regina said curtly as she led them towards the dining room.

 

“Yes, I brought them. Urgh, I hate those monthly meetings. I would probably have lost everything years ago if not for your help, Regina.”

 

Regina hummed her acknowledgement of what Mary Margaret had just said and left for the kitchen, leaving Henry with the two idiots. Henry smiled brightly at the couple as they took their respective seats at the dining table. David inquired about how Henry was doing at school and he, in turn, spoke of his time at boarding school.

 

Regina returned with a dish of lasagna and placed it next to the bowl of salad that was already on the dining table. She served her guests and Henry before digging into her own piece of lasagna. Dinner, as always, was a quiet affair. No one knew what to say and there existed an awkward silence amongst the four of them. If it were simply Henry and Regina at the table, they would never have run out of things to talk about. Having Mary Margaret and David around simply made things different since Regina never knew how to make small talk with them. It only happened with these two, however.

 

Once dinner was over, David and Henry headed to the living room to play video games. Mary Margaret and Regina were left alone and for a moment, it felt like old times. Then, Regina cleared her throat and asked, “Shall we take this to the study? Bring your documents along. We’ve got a long night ahead, especially if those old snakes are out to acquire your shares.”

 

Mary Margaret laid out the various documents on the study table and told Regina which document included details for the various properties she owned. Regina put on her reading glasses and began to go through them systematically, whilst pondering upon the issues that Mary Margaret highlighted to her. The two worked tirelessly on their monthly task of Regina helping Mary Margaret with sorting out her estates for the rest of the night. It was a job that began years ago and for Mary Margaret, she probably would have lost everything had it not been for Regina’s help all these years. To say that their relationship was complicated would be an understatement, but Mary Margaret knew that despite Regina’s tough demeanor, the other brunette still held a soft spot for her.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Meanwhile, Henry noticed that there was a text message on his mother’s phone. As David was selecting the next game to play, Henry picked up the phone, knowing that the message was from Emma. His mother had allowed him to text Emma with her phone on various occasions and as such, he knew that she would not get mad if he were to do this.

 

Emma had texted another image. This time, it was a selfie of her posing next to a vintage car with a wide grin plastered on her face.

 

Her message read: 

_Hey Regina, Henry! Check out this gorgeous car!_

Henry decided to reply Emma with a picture as well. He walked to the study and snuck a picture of Regina, hard at work, with Mary Margaret’s back facing him. Sending it over to Emma, he included a caption:

**Hey Emma, Mom’s busy right now. And btw, that is one sweet ride. Mom probably wouldn’t approve though. xP - H**

Once the message had been sent, he placed the phone back on the coffee table and resumed playing video games with David.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Emma was thrilled to receive a reply not long after her last message had been sent to Regina. Her excitement quelled slightly when she realized that the person who replied her had not been Regina, but was her son instead. Nonetheless, she did enjoy talking to Henry and smiled as she read his message. The photo was taking a while to download so she proceeded to typing a quick reply instead.

 

            _Hey Henry! I’m glad you like that too. Proves we have good taste. ;) Don’t tell your Mom I said that though. :P_

The minute her reply had been sent, the image completely downloaded and Emma opened the attachment to see Regina in her study with another woman. The woman, whose back was facing Emma, looked awfully familiar to her. Emma did not seem to be able to pinpoint who it was exactly, but she knew that one way or another, she knew that other woman.

 

It took Emma a couple of minutes to figure out who that was. She gasped when she realized that she was looking at a picture of Mary Margaret’s back.  What the heck? How did Mary Margaret know Regina and why hasn’t she mentioned this before? They’ve been close friends for a couple of years now and Mary Margaret has never once told her that she knew the superstar.

 

_You probably wouldn’t brag that you know her either, Emma. Regina would hate that and you wouldn’t want to do that to any of your friends either._ She thought to herself.

 

She wanted so much to call Regina or simply text her just to find out how she knew one of her closest friends. Yet, Emma knew that if Regina was currently busy, it was perhaps not the best time to interrupt the brunette. Furthermore, Regina was a fairly private person and Emma has only been her friend for such a short while. As such, what right did she have to simply call the woman up and demand to know such details?

 

The curiosity was killing her though. She realized that if Mary Margaret knew Regina, then David probably did too. Emma frowned. She suddenly recalled what David had said two to three weeks ago during her first two encounters with Regina Mills.

 

_“Regina Mills isn’t just famous, she has connections in high places as well.”_

_“I’ve…just heard that she is not an easy person to deal with.”_

 

As Emma recalled the things that David had mentioned, it all made sense as to why David knew what Regina was like despite Ruby obviously being the bigger fan of the woman. Emma would agree now that Regina does have connections in high places. It was evident by the whole commercial thing. However, she would argue that Regina may not have as much control over these ‘connections’ as they did over her, seeing as the other woman had seemed reluctant to participate in the filming as well.

 

As for Regina not being an easy person to deal with, Emma concluded that it was true, at least, in the beginning. It took Emma a while before Regina warmed up to her, considering other people were usually friendly to her but Regina was not like that initially. The woman treated her coldly and Emma initially thought that it had to do with their disagreement. However, she then noticed that the brunette treated the rest of the filming crew that way too. Sure, she was civil, but there was no warmth to it. It was only after they started texting each other that Emma realized that there was another side to Regina and that the woman was not a cold-hearted bitch. No, she was anything but that.

 

Emma smiled as she realized that there was a huge chance that very few people saw the side of Regina that she has gotten the privilege to know over the past few weeks. Now, she wonders if Mary Margaret and David are part of that tiny group too. Emma frowned at the thought of Regina being friendly and nice to anyone else besides Henry and Emma. She felt indignant about the fact and that failed to curb her curiosity surrounding the relationship between the brunette and the couple.

 

Letting out a growl of frustration, Emma grabbed her phone and sent a text that she knew that she would likely regret. She didn’t care now. At this point, Emma felt that she deserved to know. She quickly typed out the text and tapped on the ‘send’ button. Now, all she could do was wait.

 

It was five minutes later that Emma was sorely regretting her impulsive actions. Regina has still yet to reply her and Emma had absolutely no idea if the other woman had read her message, neither did she know her reaction to the text. Emma contemplated calling Regina, but thought better of it. After all, she had already texted the woman and Henry did say that Regina was busy. The wait was killing her and yes, she knew that it has only been five minutes. She let out a frustrated sigh and continued to wait by her cell. 


	8. Chapter 8

It took Regina a couple of hours to sort through everything with Mary Margaret. She taught the younger brunette everything she needed to look out for during the meeting with the Board of Directors of Enchanted Airlines. Regina also looked through the woman’s finances to ensure that everything corresponded and added up properly. She had taught Mary Margaret the basics of keeping up with and updating her estates and finances years ago, but it was always better to check through everything despite that.

 

Regina was exhausted by the time Mary Margaret and David left. Henry had gone to bed over an hour ago and Regina was glad to finally have some time to herself. It was after her bath that she noticed that her phone was missing and that she hadn’t seen it for the entire evening. When she found her phone on the coffee table, she couldn’t help but smile when she noticed the text from Emma amongst her various notifications.

 

Her smile, however, fell when she read what Emma had to say. The message confused her for a moment before she realized that Henry had likely texted Emma earlier. She scrolled up to read the previous messages, before returning to the latest one. She frowned as she reread Emma’s last message to her, which was sent two hours ago.

 

_Is that Mary Margaret in the picture? Wait, how would someone like you know her?_

 

Regina couldn’t help but feel irked by the way Emma phrased the message. Just who did she think she was, demanding to know how she knew her acquaintances? And what did the woman mean by ‘someone like her’? With that, a fuming Regina Mills typed a quick reply to the blonde’s text.

 

**What do you mean by that, Swan? Who are you to demand to know how I know my friends? Besides, what do you mean by ‘someone like me’? And don’t you dare tell my son that he has ‘good taste’ when he calls that death trap of a car a ‘sweet ride’.**

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Emma had been waiting for the reply for two hours and was glad when her phone finally vibrated, signifying the arrival of Regina’s reply. She frowned as she read the text and groaned aloud when she realized how badly Regina took to her previous text. She was in such deep shit now and she needed to fix it.

 

            _Look, Regina. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that text. I just saw the image of you and Mary Margaret and she happens to be one of my closest friends. So I was really curious as to how you know her. And that woman IS MM right? I didn’t mean anything bad when I said ‘someone like you’. It’s just, MM is an air stewardess and you’re…well…you. You’re a famous and talented actress. See what I mean? And c’mon, that car is gorgeous._

The reply came almost instantaneously.

 

            **You need to watch how you phrase your texts, Captain. So what if that woman is Mary Margaret? That does not mean that I will be divulging any more information about my personal life than I deem suitable to let you know. I remain unconvinced that the car is any more than a death trap.**

Emma groaned aloud. Regina had taken the text rather badly and her latest message simply showed that the brunette was still mad at her. After all, she had returned to addressing her as ‘Captain’ instead of simply ‘Emma’. Emma sighed and replied, hoping that Regina would forgive her soon.

 

            _I’m really sorry, alright?_

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Regina’s anger had subsided a little when Emma replied with an attempt at explaining what she had been trying to say. It was then that Regina saw and understood where the blonde was coming from. Despite that, she remained annoyed with the pilot. After all, she had no business asking about Regina’s acquaintances and yet continued to ask about Mary Margaret. After her last text to the other woman, Regina headed to bed and chose not to respond to Emma’s texts anymore.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

“What do you mean by ‘filming has been postponed’?” Regina barked into the phone.

 

“I… I’m sorry, Miss Mills. It would seem that I failed to pencil in the London premiere and that’s something you cannot miss. I’ve contacted the crew in charge of the commercial and they’ve agreed to postpone the filming,” Sidney replied in a timid voice.

 

“The London premiere…you’ve got to be kidding me. You forgot something that important?” Regina was now shouting at the man. “And what, I have to pay for your mistakes time and time again? Honestly, Sidney, I can easily find a much better replacement for you out there. If not for my _mother,_ you’d be unemployed by now. What of the costs of postponing?”

 

“Cora has agreed to make it up to them.”

 

Regina’s blood ran cold at that statement. Of course Sidney would have consulted her mother first. There was no denying who was Sidney’s real employer here. The older Mills required someone to keep an eye on everything her daughter does. God, when would her mother stop trying to control her life?

 

“Very well. Is that all?”

 

“Yes, that is all. You will be in London for a week before you return for filming the following week. You’ll be flying off on Wednesday and I’ve already sent you an email which includes all the details. Other than the day of the premiere, you’ll be free to tour London as you please for the rest of the week. I’ll call you if there’re any changes.”

 

At his statement, Regina’s anger flared up again. “There better not be any changes, Sidney. I’ve told you many times that this summer is for Henry and the only exceptions are the premieres and the commercial.”

 

Sidney’s gulp was audible over the phone and he hurried to assure Regina that there wasn’t anything else on her plate besides her current commitments.

 

When the phone call ended, Regina fell back onto her bed and sighed. She hated dealing with Sidney and to make matters worse, he had to greet her with bad news first thing this morning. All she wanted to do was to get the filming for the stupid commercial done and over with so that she could spend more time with her son. Her attention was then drawn by the tentative knock on her door.

 

“Mom?” Henry called out.

 

“Come in, darling,” she replied as the boy opened the door to her bedroom and then climbed into her bed.

 

“Good morning, Mommy,” Henry sighed sleepily as he closed his eyes and snuggled closer to his mother. Regina ran her hand through his hair and smiled. She enjoyed little moments like these where she got to spend time with her little prince. Nothing in the world was worth sacrificing such moments.

 

“Was that Sidney? I heard you screaming at him.”

 

Regina’s face fell and she apologized, “Sorry for waking you with that, Henry. I was so angry with him. Anyway, we’ll be heading to London on Wednesday, so Friday’s filming has been postponed.”

 

“Oh, I’d love to go to London, but I was kinda looking forward to seeing Captain Emma again too,” Henry mused aloud.

 

“I know, honey. Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll see her again soon,” Regina assured her son. She then proceeded to poke his sides with a grin, causing the boy to squirm and giggle. “Get up, honey. It’s time for breakfast.”

 

Henry grinned and looked up at Regina defiantly, “Nope.”

 

“No?” Regina raised an eyebrow before returning to poking his sides and tickling him. “No, you say?”

 

“Okay! Okay! I’m up!” Henry called out between squeals and giggles as he tried to keep Regina from tickling him anymore.

 

Breakfast was a simple affair, or at least, as simple as it could get in the Mills household. Regina would start the coffee machine as Henry used the bathroom. She would then start cooking the eggs in the way that Henry wanted them – it was scrambled eggs he wanted this morning. Sometimes, if she felt like indulging him a little, she’d fry up some bacon as well. Today was one of those mornings.

 

Henry was delighted when Regina set the plate of bacon and eggs in front of him. He looked up with a wide grin and said, “Thanks, Mom.”

 

“You’re welcome, darling,” Regina replied with a smile of her own before eating a forkful of her omelet. 


	9. Chapter 9

It has been two days since Emma last received a message from Regina. She had sent the woman several more messages, voicing her apology, and yet received no response. Regina was ignoring her and it irked Emma to no end. Checking her phone for the nth time that morning, Emma let out a growl of frustration when she was, once again, greeted with her lock screen wallpaper.

 

“Urgh, Regina, really?” she huffed aloud.

 

“You probably have yourself to blame right there, Emma,” David said.

 

“Actually, I beg to differ. I’ve known both Regina and you, Emma, for many years. I’d say that both of you are at fault here,” Mary Margaret piped in a little too cheerily for Emma’s liking.

 

 “And yet, here you are…” Emma scowled at Mary Margaret. She had called the woman the following day and told her everything that transpired between herself and Regina. However, instead of giving in to Emma’s curiosity, Mary Margaret had simply told her that it was Regina she needed to obtain her answers from and that she would not betray Regina’s trust. As a result, Emma found herself sulking in Mary Margaret’s and David’s apartment.

 

“C’mon, Emma. Regina is a private person who doesn’t let anyone in easily. You of all people should know that. How long have you known her for? Your curiosity and foot-in-mouth syndrome did not help things when you impulsively sent her that first message.” Mary Margaret sighed. “I’m not surprised that she’s doing what she has always done when someone tries to pry into her personal life. Let her cool down and think things through. She will contact you eventually. And if you want to learn more about her, you’ve got to let her tell you about herself on her own terms.”

 

“I know,” Emma sighed. “Thanks anyway.”

 

“For you, Emma, anytime.”

 

Emma lay in bed that night, unable to fall asleep. Regina was constantly on her mind and the sudden lack of text message exchanges between them did not help either. Yes, Emma missed the famous brunette. Mary Margaret was right. If Emma wanted to know more about Regina, she was going to have to stop prying and allow her to provide Emma with the details on her own terms.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

It was on Thursday and after four days of ‘silence’ from Regina that Emma finally heard from her. In fact, Emma had been so surprised when it rang and Regina’s name popped up that she nearly dropped her phone. Emma hastily answered and muttered nervously, “R…Regina?”

 

Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest when a throaty voice spoke through the phone, “Emma.”

 

Emma let out an involuntary gasp. Regina hadn’t just taken the liberty to call her but had dropped her title completely and addressed her by her name.

 

“Are you there?” Regina asked softly.

 

“Yes! Uh, I mean, yes,” Emma replied. She couldn’t help but grin happily, “Regina!”

 

She didn’t know if she could grin any wider when she heard Regina’s laughter.

 

 “I’m going to hang up now, if all you’re going to say is my name.”

 

“Wait, what? No!” Emma exclaimed. “It’s just, it’s the first time we’ve spoken to each other over the phone and hey, you called me after days of ignoring my texts.”

 

“I know. I…I wanted to apologize, Emma.”

 

“Why? What for? I’m the one who sent that stupid text without thinking it through.”

 

“For staying angry with you and ignoring your messages for four days, dear. I just… Emma, I’ve got a bad temper.”

 

“I know,” Emma interrupted.

 

“I’m trying to apologize here,” Regina huffed.

 

“I know.”

 

“Would you cut that out? I’m going to hang up if you don’t stop being rude,” Regina threatened. Emma could imagine Regina scowling as she spoke to her on the phone and she chuckled.

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing. I just missed talking to you.”

 

“Me too, Emma. So, do you accept my apology?” Regina asked tentatively.

 

“Are you going to reply to my texts now?” Emma asked back.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Are you still mad at me?” Emma was hoping that Regina wasn’t.

 

“Emma,” Regina sighed.

 

“Regina,” Emma mimicked her tone.

 

“I forgave you that night.”

 

_Oh. OH… This woman would be the death of me._ Emma thought before asking indignantly, “And you let me grovel over texts for days?”

 

“I told you that I’ve got a bad temper,” Regina said as-a-matter-of-factly.

 

“Fine.”

 

“Fine?” Regina’s confusion could be heard over the phone.

 

“Fine, I accept your apology, Regina.” Emma couldn’t believe it when Regina hung up the moment those words left her mouth. She stared gaping at her phone until she her first text from Regina in days popped up.

 

            **Thank you, Emma.**

If that text and phone call did not give her a heart attack, she certainly got one when she saw the image that followed. Regina had just sent a selfie featuring her blowing a kiss at the camera. Emma was certain that she’d died and gone to heaven.

 

Their text exchanges returned to normal that afternoon and Emma discovered that Regina had a premiere for Snow White II that evening, indicating that their text exchanges would likely slow down then. Emma was slightly disappointed at that thought, especially since she had already lost an opportunity to see Regina that week due to the filming being postponed.

 

On the bright side, Regina had stopped ignoring her messages and had even taken the liberty to call her for the first time since they had met. Furthermore, the fact that the brunette had another premiere party thing to go to meant that Emma could look forward to more images of Regina before and after being ‘glammed up’. Emma really liked seeing that side of Regina from the previous selfies that Regina had sent her.

 

Regina would send Emma selfies of herself as her makeup artist and hairdresser worked on her to prepare her for the evening. Emma thought that it was a privilege to be able to see the woman as she transformed from looking like every other girl (a very gorgeous every other girl, she must add) to a complete goddess for these premieres that she needed to attend. On top of that, she got to see the other woman in her outfit before everyone else.

 

As if on cue, she received a picture of Regina in her bathrobe with her hair all teased up in an elaborate bun and her makeup done.

 

            **So, my people decided on the ‘Evil Queen’ look for tonight. I guess it’s time to scare some children (hopefully not my own child though). You’ll understand when I put on my gown.**

Emma grinned as she studied the picture after reading the message and then replied.

 

            _Well, Your Majesty. I think you look stunning now. I cannot wait to see your look complete with the gown._

It wasn’t until an hour later that she got a reply. When Emma opened the attachment, she nearly dropped her phone in shock. It turned out that when Regina spoke of the ‘Evil Queen’ and scaring children, she really meant something else entirely. What Regina was dressed in, in Emma’s opinion, was definitely not meant for the eyes of children. Actually, Emma thought that it wasn’t meant for the eyes of anyone actually. Except for herself.

 

Regina was dressed in a gown with a corset for the bodice that was laced so tightly that Emma seriously doubted it to be possible for the other woman to breathe. The result was some glorious cleavage. As if that wasn’t revealing enough, the bottom of the gown hugged the woman’s figure, save for the long slit that nearly reached Regina’s hips on both sides. The brunette’s bare legs were on display for the entire world to see.

 

            _Please tell me that there’s an extra layer to your outfit._

**No.**

_Really, Regina? That’s a lot of skin you’re revealing tonight. You might catch a cold. Or scar a child._

**Really, Emma? You want to go there?**

_Okay, no. Sorry. But still, Regina…_

**I think I look really hot tonight. I believe ‘hot’ is the word that you’d use? Anyway, it’s time for me to go. I’ll text you again when this premiere is over.**

Across the Atlantic Ocean, Regina smiled as she hit the send button on her latest text to Emma before allowing her assistant to wrap the next few tiers to her gown, effectively covering up the slits. Did Emma really think that she’d reveal that much skin, especially when she was going to the event with her son? Once her cape had been fastened over her shoulder, she had the assistant take another picture for her: One of her complete outfit together with Henry in a tuxedo. 


	10. Chapter 10

Regina did keep her promise of texting Emma after the premiere. As one who did not really tune in much to Entertainment news, it was no wonder that Emma only discovered that Regina’s outfit was slightly different than the one in the picture that she’d sent her earlier when Regina texted a new picture to her after the premiere. Emma had no idea why, but she felt relieved when she discovered that Regina’s outfit was one that revealed a lot less skin than that in the first picture.

 

They had continued texting over the weekend, after the premiere. Regina was free to spend the rest of the week in London with Henry and had spent the weekend touring the city. Emma knew this because the pair had been sending photos of their escapades throughout the weekend to her and in return, she had recommended several places for them to visit. In fact, Emma now had enough photos of the Mills’ London trip to create an entire holiday album for them.

 

She waited patiently for the next text message to arrive. Regina had informed her that she would be bringing Henry to the Big Ben and onto the London Eye today and Emma was looking forward to more photos. She hoped that the text would arrive before she had to get on the plane. Emma had another flight to Paris and was going to spend one day there before she was due to fly back to New York the day after.

 

It was an hour before her flight that the much-awaited text message arrived. Regina had attached several photos, each taken at a different spot. Apparently, the pair had been quite busy that day, having been to most of the different tourist attractions around the Westminster area. With a smile, Emma typed a quick reply before returning to her pre-flight preparations.

 

Emma only got the opportunity to check her messages when she touched down at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. As expected, Regina had sent another image over. This time, it was one of “authentic Fish & Chips”. It looked really delicious. Emma thought of replying to the text but considering the hour of the night it was in Paris and London, she decided that it was, perhaps, a better idea to do so the following day. What she needed now, was a hot shower and then some sleep.

 

Emma slept in the next morning and woke up in time for lunch. None of her friends had been assigned on this flight with her so she had the day to herself. Her flight back had been scheduled for the following morning. There weren’t any new updates from Regina so she simply assumed that Regina and Henry were busy touring London. She sent a quick text over, informing Regina that she had only just woken up after a long flight before heading out for the day. Today, Emma was going to visit one of the oldest covered markets in Paris: Marche des Enfants Rouges. It would be the perfect place to find something to eat.

 

The entrance was not easy to find. However, having been here before, Emma knew exactly what to look out for. The small crowds passing through the simple gate that revealed a whole other world within helped. Emma was in no hurry. The place was filled with food stalls, florists and stalls offering various produce. Emma allowed herself to get lost within the place as she wandered from stall to stall, checking out the fresh produce the stall owners were selling, as well as keeping her eyes out for something nice to eat. Emma decided to queue for a sandwich and as she waited, she took a picture of the array of sandwiches displayed at the stall and sent it to Regina.

 

A couple of minutes later, she received an image back. It was a photo of a stand selling fruits but the main subject of the photo was the neon green bicycle leaning against the stand. Emma had a feeling that it was Henry who took that photo. Her suspicions were confirmed when not long later, a text came through.

 

            **Mom says the bike is a monstrosity but I think it looks pretty cool.**

Emma grinned and typed a quick reply before biting into her sandwich.

            _Well, tell your mother she has horrible taste when it comes to anything with wheels. ;)_

**I showed Mom the message. She just scoffed and laughed before going back to her shopping.**

_Oh? Does she doubt our fabulous taste? What is she shopping for?_

Henry replied with a photo of flowers displayed in front of a mural of a garden of sorts.

**She’s not really shopping for anything. We’re just walking around this market. I think she’s just happy to be able to walk around this freely without anyone recognizing her.**

 

Emma studied the photo and furrowed her eyebrows. The florist depicted in the photo looked strangely familiar. It was like she had just seen the place not long ago. It was then that she noticed the gate in the background. It looked like the one characteristic of Marche des Enfants Rouges. Were Regina and Henry in Paris? What were the odds of them being in the same place? Deciding to fish for more information, she replied Henry.

 

            _Ah, I see. A market, you were saying? I’m at one too. The produce here looks really fresh and I’m eating this really good sandwich._

Henry’s next photo was one of a stall selling grilled chicken. The sign on top of the display was clearly in French. Emma was now certain that Regina and Henry were in Paris, and there was a chance that she would be able to find them both here.

            _Ooh, grilled chicken. It looks good. Keep the photos coming, kid._

Henry did as she asked, and the next photo was one of a menu written in French. Emma decided to first search for the florist in the photo he had sent earlier, simply to confirm that they were in this market too. She felt that it shouldn’t be too difficult, seeing as the gate in the photo indicated that the florist was likely near one of the entrances.

 

Emma found the florist just as she finished her sandwich. She couldn’t help but let out a small laugh when she compared the photo to the place. It was the florist in the photo and Regina and Henry were indeed in Marche des Enfants Rouges. Her next step was to attempt to trace their steps and find the stall selling grilled poultry and then the one with the menu.

 

            _Are you trying to test my French, kid? ;) Did you guys end up getting something off that menu?_

Henry’s reply was a photo of a sitting area near a fruit stall.

            **Yeah, we did. I got the crepe and Mom just got a salad. We’re sitting here and enjoying our meal for now. Mom says she’s going to bring me to see the Eiffel Tower later. :D**

Bingo. Emma found the poultry stall and all she had to do was to find the sitting area where Regina and Henry sat. It wasn’t long before she found the fruit stall in the corner and the sitting area near it. It was easy to spot Regina and Henry from there and Emma found herself sneaking up behind the brunette woman, lifting her index finger to her lips to silence Henry when their eyes met.

 

Not wanting to end up rendering the other woman deaf in the process, Emma bent down and simply said, “Boo.”

 

The effect was still there, despite Emma not being loud. Regina startled and gasped, before spinning around to find out who it was that had just scared her. Surprise flashed across her eyes when she registered Emma’s form in front of her. Then, her eyes narrowed and she glared at Emma.

 

“That was really mature, Emma Swan.”

 

“I’ve never been known for my maturity level.” Emma shrugged and sat down next to the brunette. “Anyway, I got you, didn’t I?” Emma grinned and offered her hand to Henry for a high-five.

 

“Why are you here? Didn’t you have a flight last night?”

 

“It was a flight here. I never told you the destination. Besides, weren’t you two in London?”

 

“We were. But I wanted to see Paris too, after the photos from your previous trip here,” Henry piped in.

 

“So, Eiffel Tower later? I could be your tour guide or something.” As soon as Emma said that, Henry cheered and quickly finished his crepe, eager to get to tour the city soon.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

To say that Regina had been surprised at the sight of Emma when the woman scared her from behind was an understatement. It had never occurred to her that Emma’s flight was to Paris, even though the woman had been scheduled to fly here previously. However, that was not to say that Regina wasn’t happy to see the blonde. She was instead, elated to see her. Ignoring Emma and the postponement of the filming had left her feeling a sense of loss when she realized that she wouldn’t be able to see Emma nor communicate with her in any way since she was refusing to speak to the blonde. Seeing Emma here made her feel a lot better than she had in the past week.

 

Regina was secretly glad that Emma suggested being their tour guide in Paris because that would mean that she’d be able to spend more time with the other woman. It was hard to explain why she was so drawn towards Emma, but spending time with her and even simply texting her made her heart beat faster in a way that she hasn’t felt in ten years.

 

Regina had a fantastic time with Emma and Henry as they travelled around Paris on an unplanned city-tour that afternoon. Emma had brought them to see the various landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower that Henry had wanted so much to see. They had such a great time that Regina was disappointed when she realized that their time together was almost over and that Emma would be leaving soon.

 

The words left her mouth before she could stop them and she felt her cheeks heating up, “Emma, would you… would you like to have dinner with us? We could get room service to deliver the food up, since Henry looks like he’s about to fall asleep standing up.”

 

“Yeah, join us for dinner. And Mom, I’m not going to fall asleep, yet,” Henry retorted.

 

Regina felt her heart thudding quickly in her chest as she waited for Emma’s answer. Her heart skipped a beat when Emma said yes and her face split into a wide smile. 


	11. Chapter 11

It would appear that time passes quickly when one is enjoying oneself. Dinner seemed to go past in a flash and by then, Henry had been so exhausted that he had nearly fallen asleep at the table. Regina had then sent the boy to wash up so that he could be tucked into bed.

 

“Hey Emma, tuck me in too?” Henry had requested before heading into the bathroom. Emma glanced in Regina’s direction, unsure of whether she should agree to what the boy had asked. All it took was a slight nod and a soft smile from Regina and Emma was readily agreeing to help tuck Henry into bed.

 

Regina was staying in a suite that had a living room area and a bedroom. There were two twin beds in the bedroom and Henry had already claimed his by tossing his bag onto it. Emma was left alone with Regina for the first time the entire day when Henry disappeared into the bathroom.

 

It was strange, seeing as the two of them always had plenty to talk about when they communicated via text. However, as Emma stood in front of Regina now, she realized that she didn’t know what to say to the other woman. She simply stood awkwardly by the doorway of the bedroom as Regina tidied up the mess that Henry had left on his bed when digging for his stuff.

 

“So, um,” Emma said.

 

“Emma,” Regina began at the same time. The two of them chuckled at the coincidence.

 

“You go first.” Emma insisted.

 

Regina tucked her hair behind her ear and bit her lower lip. Emma thought that she looked absolutely adorable. “Well, I…I was wondering if you’d like to stay for a nightcap after we tuck Henry in.”

 

“Yes, I’d like that.” Emma grinned at Regina. She was glad that Regina had proposed that because truth to be told, she wanted to stay longer, but had initially been afraid that she’d overstay her welcome with the Mills. Henry stumbled out of the bathroom a moment later and collapsed onto the bed where Regina was perched on. Regina held the covers as he slipped under them. Once Henry had been tucked in, Regina planted a kiss on his forehead.

 

“Goodnight, darling,” She said softly.

 

“Night, kid. Sweet dreams,” Emma added. The boy drifted off to sleep in no time. Regina closed the door gently before turning back to fact Emma.

 

“I can tell that Henry really enjoyed himself today. Look at how exhausted he is. Thank you, Emma,” Regina said as she began to pour wine into a glass. She had taken out another glass, but Emma was quick to decline.

 

“I’ve got a flight tomorrow morning, so I can’t drink,” Emma said sheepishly.

 

Regina nodded in understanding. She proceeded to take a sachet of instant hot chocolate and waved it at Emma. “How about some hot chocolate instead?”

 

“Oh, yes please. A woman after my own heart,” Emma replied with a wink. Her statement caused the brunette’s cheeks to redden slightly.

 

They took their drinks to the couch and Emma was contented to sit in silence next to Regina and simply enjoy her company. It was Regina who then broke the silence between them.

 

“Thank you, for today, Emma. Henry and I both enjoyed ourselves very much.”

 

“You’ve already said that once. You’re welcome, Regina. I enjoyed bringing you guys around too.” Emma smiled at Regina, who was taking a sip of her wine.

 

“I’m still mad at you for scaring me at the market though.”

 

“Oh, really?” Emma put her cup of hot chocolate down on the coffee table and sidled up next to Regina, staring intently at the brunette.

 

Regina too, put her glass down. She brought her face closer to Emma’s. Her nostrils flared and she jutted her chin out, “Yes, really.”

 

“I know that that you were acting angry, but it’s still pretty scary when you do that, you know?” Emma stated as a matter-of-factly.

 

Regina’s expression softened into a smile. “I know.”

 

Emma had no idea who started closing the gap between their faces first but the next thing she knew, she was closing her eyes as her lips met Regina’s. Regina’s lips were brushing against hers gently and all Emma could think of was how good the brunette tasted. Regina’s lips were soft and they tasted of apples and the wine that she had been drinking. It was when Regina began nibbling on her lower lip and licking it that she registered what exactly was going on.

 

She was kissing Regina Mills.

 

Emma’s eyes flashed wide open and she took hold of Regina’s shoulders, pulling away from her in the process. Emma caught the look of surprise and then hurt flash across Regina’s face before the brunette masked it with a look of indifference.

 

Regina was about to open her mouth to say something but Emma was quick to interrupt her.

 

“I…Look, Regina. You have no idea how much I want to kiss you. It’s just… What exactly is this that we’re doing? We’re most likely going to go our separate ways after the final filming on Friday. We’re likely never going to talk to each other, or at least, not much, after that. I… I can’t allow myself to go through this. I don’t do temporary,” Emma blurted out. She was sorry to break the kiss, but it was necessary. She had to protect herself from going through it all over again. People that came in her life, they never stayed, especially people like Regina Mills. If they were going to take that step, then Emma needed to know that she wasn’t just a temporary fling for Regina.

 

An uncomfortable silence hung between them for a minute as Regina registered Emma’s outburst. Her lips had tightened into a line and she appeared to be pondering upon some of the things that Emma had raised.

 

What Regina said when she finally spoke surprised Emma a little. “I want this. I truly want this, Emma. I have no idea when or how, but along the way, I realized that I was truly attracted to you. This spark between us is unique and it’s something that I haven’t felt for a long time. Emma, I’m not sure what this is between us too, but I do know that I want to be with you.”

 

Emma felt the need to reiterate what she had said prior despite Regina’s confession. She couldn’t allow herself to get hurt again, not after everything that she’d been through in her life. “Whatever this is, it cannot just be a game to you, okay? Temporary is just not my thing.”

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Regina nearly groaned aloud in disappointment when Emma pulled away from her and broke the kiss. She was surprised and at the same time, slightly hurt because she had no idea why Emma had rejected her like that. She was, however, quick to mask her emotions. If Emma were to reject her outright, she was definitely not going to show any weaknesses. Deciding it best to apologize, she opened her mouth to tell Emma that she was sorry for the kiss, only to be interrupted by the blonde.

 

Emma’s words sent Regina’s heart on a rollercoaster ride in the next few seconds. Her heart skipped a beat when the other woman expressed how much she wanted to kiss her, then her heart sank when Emma outright told her that she did not want to become a one-night stand only to be discarded later. Regina understood where Emma was coming from, but she still needed a minute to think.

 

What made Emma think that she herself was one for temporary relationships? Hell, she hadn’t been in any relationships since Leopold. She never met the right person and couldn’t bring herself to go through meaningless nights with strangers. Emma, on the other hand, was special.

 

Regina couldn’t believe that she took this long to realize this but she wanted something with Emma. She’d gladly take being friends with her if Emma didn’t want something more. She was attracted to the woman and wanted so badly to simply have her exist in her life. As such, she replied with a frank confession of how she truly felt. When Emma repeated that whatever they had could not be a temporary game to her, Regina realized that she might need more to convince the blonde that she truly wanted this. She thought back upon what Emma had said after their kiss. Emma had mentioned something about not being able to allow herself to go through another ‘temporary’ relationship. Something in her life must have caused her to feel that way.

_Perhaps, just perhaps, Emma would open up to me if I opened up to her too._

 

Regina bit her lip, unsure of where she should begin. _Mother. Mother would be the perfect place to start._

 

After taking a deep breath and making herself more comfortable on the couch, she ignored Emma’s curious frown and started to talk about her mother.

 

“I assure you, Emma, that I don’t do temporary either. My mother… I’ve never stopped loving her and wanting to please her in everything I do, but I’ve been trying to break free from that since Henry was born.”

 

Emma seemed to sense that Regina was about to delve into something deeply personal and private to her. She sat up straighter and leaned slightly towards the brunette. Regina simply continued talking, a frown beginning to etch on her face.

 

“Mother has been nothing but controlling towards me my entire life. Yes, I believe that she wants the best for me. However, her methods have been…questionable. She never stopped saying that she loves me, but her actions tend to prove otherwise. Perhaps it’s easier to simply say that she controls everything I do, including parts of my career.” Regina lets out a bitter laugh before continuing, “Hell, the commercial was her idea, too.”

 

Emma’s eyes bugged out. “Seriously? Then again, you never really pegged me as the kind of celebrity who would do commercials either,” she mused aloud.

 

“That’s because I’m not. This summer, I was supposed to be spending more time with Henry. I already had to send him to boarding school because of my line of work. I wasn’t about to lose what little time I get to spend with him on more work. All I had planned was for the promotion of my movie. Then we met, kind of argued, and mother jumped in and had me do the commercial. I couldn’t back out.”

 

“I don’t get it. You won’t believe how many questions I have right now.” Emma was pouting now and Regina nearly laughed at how adorable she looked.

 

“You can ask them when I’m finished talking.” Regina’s statement caused Emma to smile sheepishly. “As I was saying, Mother has controlled my life since young. She has controlled everything from what I ate to who I dated. Then, I met _him_.” Regina’s voice cracked a little at the end.

 

Emma perked up, her eyes widening a little. “Him?”

 

“His name was Daniel. Daniel… He was my first love and meant everything to me. I met him when I was seventeen, in high school. We both loved music and he got me playing gigs at various clubs. We fell in love with each other so quickly and deeply and if not for my mother, I think I would’ve married him as soon as I could.”

 

Regina broke off and reached for her glass of wine, taking a huge gulp before she went on.

 

“Daniel was smart, charming and funny. He knew about my mother and knew what she was like, as well as the fact that she would never have accepted our relationship. But we continued sneaking around. It was strange that my mother never noticed anything, considering how many gigs I was doing at clubs. Even if she did, she never said a thing. I got discovered at eighteen and for the first time ever, Mother was happy with something that I did of my own accord. She allowed myself to pursue a career in music and I made a name for myself in no time. Daniel, he was nothing but supportive throughout until…”

 

Regina finished her wine in one mouthful and filled her glass once more. She closed her eyes, anguish flashing across her face. When she opened her eyes once more, they were filled with unshed tears. Emma looked concerned but remained silent.

 

“When we were nineteen, Daniel died in a car crash. They never caught the person behind it. They…they said that he died a quick death; that he hardly felt any pain. It changed my life forever.” Regina wiped away at the tears that had fallen and sniffed.

 

“I was in a vulnerable state and I let my mother manipulate and convince me to marry a man who was old enough to be my father. To say that it was the worst period of my life would be an understatement. He…he wasn’t a good man and he was a horrible excuse for a father. If he treated me badly before, it was nothing like his treatment of me after I found out that I was pregnant with Daniel’s child.” Regina’s teary eyes were filled with anger now.

 

Emma looked to be in thought for a moment before she interrupted, “Wait, are you saying that you married someone less than three months after Daniel’s death, depending on when you found out about the pregnancy?”

 

Regina pursed her lips. “Yes. It took my mother three weeks to get me near the man and have him propose. It was another week before we were married. There wasn’t even a ceremony, considering that I was his second wife. Two weeks later, I found out that I was pregnant with Henry.”

 

Emma was gaping at her. “Your mother…she really is a force to be reckoned with, isn’t she?”

 

“Yes, she is.”

 

“Wow.”

 

“My ex-husband died not long after and for the first time since Daniel died, I was happy, at least. I was glad that he died before Henry was born. I sometimes shudder to think of what might have been for Henry if he had still been alive. I guess being excluded from his will was the best outcome.”

 

“What?” Emma exclaimed. “Are you fucking serious? Weren’t you his wife?”

 

Regina rolled her eyes at Emma’s statement. “We may have been husband and wife by law, but I was nothing to him.”

 

Emma looked puzzled by the statement and all Regina could do was wonder about what Emma was thinking about right now. Deciding that she had revealed enough for one night, Regina then spoke about her reasons for telling Emma all that.

 

“My point is, I’ve never done anything temporary when it comes to relationships in my life. Not before Daniel, not Daniel, not since _him_. You know how much of a private person I am, Emma, and I hope that the fact that I just shared with you both the most important part of my life and the part that I want to forget means something. This thing we have? It won’t be anything temporary, at least not to me.”

 

Regina looked at Emma earnestly when she said that, hoping that the blonde would be convinced that she was serious about this and that Emma would be willing to put her reservations to one side and jump in on this ship with her. 


	12. Chapter 12

Emma watched as Regina slept, her head resting on Emma’s lap. She ran her hand through the brunette’s hair and thought back on the events that had transpired after Regina had told her about her past.

 

Emma was surprised that Regina had opened up to her and told her about such an important part of her life. She was glad that she had finally gotten to know a lot more about the woman. She understood that Regina was trying to convince Emma that she wasn’t the kind who would easily commit to being with someone and had been trying to do so by allowing Emma a glimpse into a part of her life that very few people knew about.

 

The thought of Regina’s past with her ex-husband made Emma’s blood boil. Regina was a gorgeous and amazing woman and this asshole must have been an idiot to treat Regina that way. Emma couldn’t imagine how much Regina must’ve suffered during that period of time and the thought of how vulnerable Regina must’ve been made Emma’s heart clench uncomfortably.

 

Regina stirred in her sleep, turning to burrow into Emma’s stomach, causing the blonde to smile. Even in her sleep, Regina was beautiful and Emma didn’t know what she did to deserve meeting a woman like her.

 

After Regina had told her about her past and that whatever they had was far from temporary for her, Emma couldn’t help but lunge towards the brunette for a kiss. They had kissed passionately before Emma pulled away, breathless, and gave Regina a wide smile. Regina, had returned the smile with one of her own. Emma had hoped that the kiss was enough to express how she felt and her gratitude towards Regina for sharing so much with her. After all, she had never been good with words. It was then that Emma thought back on her past, and she wanted so much to tell Regina about the foster homes and even Neal, but she simply wasn’t ready to do so and the words had failed her.

 

Regina had seen through that immediately, and simply shushed her by placing her index finger on Emma’s mouth when she opened her mouth to say something but no sound came out. Regina had smiled softly at her and shook her head, before whispering, “It’s okay. I understand.”

 

The two had then curled up next to each other on the couch. Regina grabbed the TV remote and began surfing through the various channels that was available, although many of them were in French and neither could understand very much of the language. Regina finally settled on a channel that was broadcasting an action movie. Emma never pegged Regina as the kind who was interested in action movies but she liked them and it was one of the few channels in English so she didn’t say anything. Sure enough, halfway through the movie, Emma noticed that the brunette had fallen asleep.

           

Emma was glad that Regina understood her reservations regarding opening up about her past and did not expect Emma to reveal anything. Remembering her past and what it meant was hard enough, let alone voicing it out and telling someone about it. Her past had been wrought with disappointments and no one had been willing to stay. It was why Emma couldn’t allow herself to fall into yet another relationship only to have it come out broken not long after. Everyone in her life had simply taken what they wanted from her and left. Regina, on the other hand, seemed to be different. She had gone to such lengths just to convince Emma that she was serious. It wasn’t that Emma no longer had her insecurities about this thing that they had going on, she simply felt that there would be progress with Regina and that Regina could be trusted.

 

As the credits for the movie rolled, Emma noticed how late it was getting. She was sorry that she had to leave Regina then, but it was necessary seeing as she had an early morning flight the next morning and still had some packing to do. Gently easing Regina’s head off her lap so as to not wake her up, Emma got off the couch and switched off the TV. She scribbled a quick note for Regina, planted a kiss on the sleeping woman’s forehead and quietly left the hotel room.

+++++++++++++++++++

 

_Hey Regina, sorry I couldn’t stay the night. I’ve got an early morning flight back to New York. :( See you when you get back to New York!_

Regina read the note for the umpteenth time since Paris and smiled to herself once more. She had been disappointed to wake up to find her suite devoid of a certain blonde. For a second until she noticed the note left on the coffee table, she thought that Emma had had second thoughts and ran. That thought vanished when she read the note. Since then, she had been re-reading the note despite having shared several text exchanges and phone calls with Emma after returning to New York.

 

“Is that my note?” Emma’s voice came suddenly from behind her, startling Regina. Regina yelped and hurriedly tried to shove the note into her pocket, only to be stopped by Emma when the blonde took hold of her hand and gently pried the note out of her grip.

 

“No, it isn’t.” Regina was quick to deny. She could feel her cheeks heating up.

 

“It _is_ my note.” Emma took one look at the note and grinned at her. Emma glanced around to ensure that there wasn’t anyone else in the vicinity, before planting a quick kiss on Regina’s lips. “Hi.”

 

“Hey,” Regina replied.

 

“It’s finally the end of having to go through this stupid commercial, huh.”

 

“Oh no, wait until you see it on TV. We still don’t know how it’d turn out after editing and with a director like Killian…” Regina trailed off.

 

Emma groaned and rested her head on Regina’s shoulders.

 

“At least we’re done filming it,” Regina said with a nervous chuckle.

 

Emma glanced up at her and with a tilt of her head, said, “You’ve got something on your mind. Spill.”

 

Regina marveled at how Emma was able to tell and bit her lower lip. “Well, I was wondering if you’d be willing to come over for dinner tomorrow. If you’d like to, of course.”

 

“Are you asking me on a date?” Emma teased.

 

“Well, Henry will be there. But--”

 

Emma interrupted before Regina could finish her sentence, “It’s a date then.”

 

Regina flashed Emma a brilliant smile and nodded. Regina wanted so much to kiss Emma right there and then, but Killian had to choose that moment to interrupt them, much to her annoyance.

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Regina was certainly not the only one in the house who was excited about Emma coming over. When Henry had heard the news from her, he’d leapt up in happiness and grabbed her phone to text Emma. It was only later that Regina found out that Henry had somehow convinced Emma to persuade Regina into making burgers and fries that night and she had relented. Sure, she wasn’t very happy with their choice in food but since she was the one making dinner, she was pretty sure that they wouldn’t dare to complain if she made a few substitutes.

 

Henry had been running to and fro the front door and his room. He was playing with his video games, and checking to see if Emma has arrived. Regina had no idea how Henry had that much energy in him but she concluded that excitement can sometimes provide people with the extra energy boost.

 

The doorbell rang just as Regina was about to start tossing the salad. She wiped her hands on her apron and headed for the front door. She knew, by the pitter-patter of Henry’s footsteps, that the boy had already beat her to the door. She was greeted by the sight of the blonde smiling lovingly at her, with Henry wrapped around her in an embrace.

 

“Hi,” Emma said. Henry dragged her in and Regina was about to open her mouth to chide him when Emma interrupted, “It’s okay. I got you these.”

 

Emma handed her a bouquet of violets, which Regina accepted before planting a kiss on the blonde’s cheek. “Come in. I just have to toss the salad and then we can start dinner.”

 

Regina returned to the kitchen, leaving Henry to entertain Emma. It was a minute later that she felt strong arms wrap around her waist and someone plant a soft kiss on her neck. Regina turned around and wrapped her hands around Emma’s neck with a smile. She then pulled the blonde down for a kiss.

 

“I’m glad you’re here,” Regina whispered when they broke apart.

 

“I’m glad to be here too.” Emma leaned in for another kiss, which was interrupted by Henry.

 

“Eww, you guys are gross.” He scrunched his nose. “Can we eat now?”

 

Emma and Regina gazed into each other’s eyes and shared a laugh. Regina then turned and handed the bowl of salad to Emma. “Yes, we can. Go and set the table, Henry. Emma, bring this out for me, please?”

 

Emma nodded and followed after Henry, who had grabbed the necessary utensils from the kitchen and headed for the dining table. Regina brought the tray with the burgers and fries in and set the food on the table.

 

Both Emma and Henry’s faces fell when they caught sight of the burgers and fries.

 

“Grilled chicken breast?” Henry sighed.

 

“Sweet potato fries?” Emma pouted.

 

Regina had to stifle a giggle at their expressions. “I wasn’t just about to let you two eat that unhealthily. Trust me, they aren’t that bad.”

 

Emma picked up a fry and studied it. “But Regina, this takes the fun out of eating fries.”

 

“I’m pretty sure that getting a heart attack won’t be fun.”

 

Emma frowned, popped the fry in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. Her eyes widened and she popped a few more fries in her mouth. “Damn, Regina. These are really good!”

 

Regina simply smirked and served Emma and Henry with their burgers.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Regina sat on the couch, curled up next to Emma, with a glass of wine in hand. Henry had gone to bed not long ago, after several rounds of Mario Kart with Emma. The pilot was brilliant at the game and Henry had lost nearly every round. The boy had only agreed to go to bed if Emma promised him a rematch the next time she came over - even though they already have had plenty of rematches.

 

“I can hear you thinking from here,” Regina said quietly, breaking the silence between them.

 

Emma shifted a little, but their limbs remained entangled. Regina glanced at the blonde with inquisitive eyes. Emma was chewing on her lower lip.

 

“Emma?”

 

Emma released her lip from between her teeth and turned to look at Regina. “I’m sorry.”

 

Regina raised an eyebrow at that.

 

“I’ve been thinking a lot over the past few days and I thought that well, you’ve shared so much about your past,” Emma began.

 

“You are not obligated to tell me anything, especially if you’re not comfortable talking about it,” Regina interrupted after sensing what was about to come next.

 

“I know, but I’ve wanted to share since that night in Paris. It has just been awfully difficult for me to speak up on this.” Emma looked earnestly into Regina’s eyes. “I want you to know about my past. I want to share with you as much as you shared with me. You told me about one of the most personal part of your life because you wanted to show me how serious you are about our relationship. I want to do that for you too.”

 

Regina opened her mouth to interrupt. She wanted to let Emma know that it wasn’t necessary. She didn’t need to know what it was that inhibited Emma from jumping into relationships. She knew something must’ve caused her reluctance to commit to one, but Regina honestly didn’t need to know what exactly it was until Emma was truly ready to tell her. Right now, Regina still felt that it might still be too early in their relationship for Emma to be completely ready to share that with her.

 

Before she could speak a word, though, Emma stopped her. “Uh-uh, Regina. I know what you want to say. I told you that I’ve done a lot of thinking over the past few days. I’m ready. This is something I’m willingly sharing. This is a part of my life that I’m willingly telling you about.”

 

“Besides, it could be my first gift to you, and I wouldn’t even have to fork out a cent for it,” Emma joked with a wink.

 

Regina couldn’t help but smile at that. She nodded and said, “If you are certain, then I’m more than happy to listen.”

 

Emma grinned brightly at her, and the sight only caused Regina’s smile to grow.

 

“So, I grew up in foster homes. My parents, or parent, I don’t know, left me on the side of the road,” Emma began.

 

Regina’s eyes widened in shock. She had no idea that Emma was an orphan and this new knowledge was dropped onto her like a bomb. Emma noticed her reaction, but seemed to take no care and continued talking.

 

“Anyway, I went through foster homes pretty quickly. The longest I stayed in a foster home…well, it’s also the most painful because the couple was actually about to adopt me. Then the mom got pregnant and I was sent back. I guess I just wasn’t good enough,” Emma said with a shrug.

 

Regina’s heart clenched when Emma spoke of not being good enough. The way Emma said it, it felt as though she was already resigned to it and Regina strongly disagreed with that. Emma is beyond being good enough. With a frown, Regina took Emma’s hand in hers and squeezed. Feeling the need to tell the blonde what she thought, Regina said firmly, “You are good enough, Emma.”

 

Emma simply gave her a meek smile. “Not to them anyway. No one in my childhood thought that I was good enough to be adopted. Most of the foster homes I was in…well, foster kids like us were simply seen as meal tickets and nothing else. We were just a means to an end. I got out of the system as soon as I could.”

 

Regina’s grip on Emma’s hand tightened as the blonde spoke. With a slight tilt of her head, she asked, “Got out of the system as soon as you could?”

 

Emma nodded, “I ran away from my last foster home and lived on the streets. It was there that I met Neal.”

 

“Neal?” Regina scrunched her nose. She had a feeling she knew where this was heading.

 

“He was my first love. I wish I never met him though. He convinced me that we’d be happy together and that once we have enough money, we can find a nice place to settle down in instead of living in a car. I believed him, and I helped him with his business. It turned out that he was peddling stolen goods and I was acting as his runner.”

 

Regina was rendered speechless with that revelation that Emma was once involved in criminal activity. “Did you know?” She asked quietly.

 

“That I was helping Neal sell off his stolen goods? No. I knew that he was a thief, but it was only when I was nearly caught that I realized that he was using me to peddle his loots. I was angry, of course. I confronted him and he dumped me,” Emma replied with a bitter laugh.

 

“Hold on. He _used_ you then dumped you?” Regina could register her own voice rising, but she didn’t care at the moment.

 

“Yeah. And you might want to lower your voice a little. Henry’s sleeping.” Emma was stroking the back of her hand.

 

Regina responded by nuzzling her face in Emma’s neck. “I just can’t believe that someone treated you like that,” She mumbled.

 

“He told me that it was my fault that I nearly got caught with the goods. He said that there was no point for him to remain with me if I couldn’t even get a simple job like that done…”

 

Regina sat up and looked at Emma with wide eyes. Anger flashed across her eyes and her nostrils flared. Regina was furious at the thought of anyone treating Emma that way. Regina did not even register how tightly she was gripping Emma’s hand until the blonde planted a kiss on her lips.

 

“Hey, come back to me. It’s okay. It’s over. That happened many years ago,” Emma said softly.

 

“But he still hurt you pretty badly. I will destroy him if I ever come across him,” Regina said resolutely.

 

“Thank you, but I doubt that’s necessary.”

 

Regina simply shrugged. “I’m not fond of others hurting the people I care about.”

 

“The people I cared about never stayed in my life. Most of them left…”

 

“So you started guarding yourself against others. It’s why you told me that you don’t do temporary, isn’t it?”

 

Emma nodded. “No one thought that I was good enough to stay for,” her voice was almost a mere whisper as she spoke.

 

Regina felt her heart clench when Emma said that. How could the woman not see how wonderful she was?

 

“Emma, look at me,” Regina’s tone was firm, with a slight hint of anguish. Emma did as Regina requested and when their eyes met, Regina spoke again.

 

“You are right. You weren’t good enough.” Regina saw the hurt that flashed across Emma’s eyes and quickly continued, “You are more than that. You were too good and none of them deserved you. Don’t ever believe that you can ever be less than who you are, my darling. You are beyond good enough, Emma.”

 

Tears were streaming down Emma’s face and Regina used her free hand to wipe them away.

 

“Do you really think that, Regina?” Emma sniffed.

 

Regina smiled and nodded. “I do. I know that the things that happened to you in the past and the way those people treated you made you doubt yourself and took away your faith in relationships but Emma, everything that happened was not your fault, neither was it because you weren’t good enough. You are beautiful and wonderful and I’m going to keep reminding you of this when you need it.”

 

Emma surged forward and pressed her lips against Regina’s. Regina responded to the kiss with the same fervor, allowing her tongue to slide and dance against Emma’s. The two only parted for air moments later.

 

“That was one hell of a heavy topic for a first date, huh?” Emma said breathlessly with a small grin.

 

“It doesn’t matter. As long as it’s with you, I’d talk about anything under the sun,” Regina replied. 


	13. Chapter 13

Over the next three weeks, Emma and Regina got to spend a lot more time together. The fact that the filming for the commercial was over, coupled with Regina not having many promotional activities related to her new film, the couple was taking advantage of every free moment they had to be with each other. Emma was glad that her flight schedule had mostly coincided with Regina’s promotional activities, which only served to benefit them further. Other than an appearance on a talk show, Regina’s other promotional activities happened when Emma was either in Paris or on domestic flights.

 

Emma felt that things between Regina and herself were going great. It amazed her that they managed to be with each other this easily. After the dinner that night, Regina had invited Emma over nearly every subsequent night and Emma had the pleasure of sampling Regina’s marvelous cooking. The brunette could definitely strike out as a chef if her career in entertainment didn’t work out. Emma had found herself arriving as early as possible and had tried to offer to help her girlfriend in the kitchen but was always turned away. Regina was strangely territorial when it came to her kitchen. Emma did not mind though, considering how bad she was at cooking. She was, however, brilliant at challenging Henry at Mario Kart. She wasn’t sure if Regina knew, but Emma has caught her watching the two of them with a soft smile on her face despite Regina’s claims of a complete lack of interest in both playing and watching them play.

 

The Mario Kart games usually precede dinner. The trio would then settle in the living for a less exciting activity after dinner. They would watch a movie together on some days. On other days, Henry would be watching cartoons whilst Regina read her current novel of choice. Emma would either snuggle next to Regina with a book or join Henry with the cartoons if they interest her. It became a comfortable routine over the three weeks, except for Thursdays. On Thursdays, Regina would be sitting in her study doing ‘work’. Henry had informed Emma once that his mother was ‘going through her accounts’, which Emma thought was a much better term to address whatever work Regina does every Thursday. Emma was thankful that Regina usually took at most an hour to complete her accounts, after which, Emma would get her all to herself since Henry would’ve gone to bed.

 

Thinking about her girlfriend and her son made Emma’s heart expand with warmth and love. _Her girlfriend._ She loved calling Regina that and thinking of the brunette as _hers_. Emma was Regina’s and Regina was Emma’s.

 

“Oi, Emma! Wipe that dreamy smile off your face before David sees you!” Ruby snapped at her, interrupting her train of thoughts just as she got to the office. She was about to submit her flight report after having flown back from Los Angeles and was ready to head back for a shower before going over to Regina’s.

 

Emma frowned at Ruby’s words and expression. The woman had not been smiling when she spoke and her brows were knitted in a frown. Ruby may joke around a lot but Emma was pretty sure that this time, it was different. She wasn’t one to snap at Emma without reason. Concern flooded her as she recalled that David was having his command line check today. Passing it would mean that he would finally make Captain.

 

“No… He failed?” Emma gasped.

 

Ruby nodded gravely, confirming her suspicions. “I think he was too nervous. He’s devastated. I think he’s with Mary Margaret on the roof.”

 

Emma thanked Ruby and headed upstairs after submitting her report. She needed to see how David was doing.

 

Emma found the man sitting alone, watching the planes take-off from the runway that their office faced. His face was sullen. Emma looked around to find that Mary Margaret was nowhere in sight unlike what Ruby mentioned before. She let out a small sigh before approaching the First Officer and sitting down next to him. The two sat in silence for a minute before David spoke.

 

“I got Spencer…”

 

“You’re kidding! George Spencer? Oh my god, I’m so sorry, David,” Emma said. George Spencer was notorious for not passing the people he did his command line checks for. In all her years in Enchanted Airlines, Emma has only come across one person who passed: James Edwards. Spencer was also a dick and no one enjoyed working with him. Emma was glad that she was on the same rank as the guy and as such, very rarely had to be scheduled to be partnered with him on flights. As it turns out, Edwards was also the only one that she knew who got along with Spencer.

 

“David, you have to know that this is not your fault, right?”               

 

David shook his head. “Perhaps I just never had the skills to make it as a pilot.”

 

“No…Spencer doesn’t pass anyone. You know that.”

 

“I was hoping that I’d be the exception after Edwards.”

 

“David--”

 

“It’s okay, Emma. Perhaps it’s supposed to turn out like this. Perhaps the furthest I can ascend is being First Officer. After all, Mary Margaret did have to pull strings to get me this job. If not for her and Regina, I probably couldn’t have gotten the job.”

 

Emma frowned at what David had just let slip. What on earth did he mean by that? She already knew that the couple knew Regina, but how could Regina and Mary Margaret pull strings to get David his job, especially when Mary Margaret was simply a flight attendant? Emma was confused, and she now had more questions than ever regarding the relationship between Mary Margaret and Regina.

 

“What do you mean?” Emma enquired. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know the answer to it but she was curious about it.

 

“Mary Margaret is a major shareholder. I was having a difficult time finding a job and well, both of us wanted to work in the same company. So Mary Margaret did all she could to persuade Regina to help her convince Gold to hire me. It didn’t require much convincing, actually, considering how the two of them hold the majority of the company’s shares together. That was how I got the job. I suppose that I’m probably never going to get promoted seeing as I didn’t get here with my own efforts to begin with.”

           

Emma was rendered speechless by what David had just revealed to her. There was ringing in her ears and a certain pressure that was growing uncomfortable. Mary Margaret held company stocks? No, hang on, Regina did too. The fact that both of them held enough stocks to out-vote other shareholders did not help too. Emma has known Mary Margaret for so many years and never once did she mention something this important. Just what was the relationship between Mary Margaret and Regina?

 

“Mary Margaret and Regina hold company stocks?” Emma managed to bite out. She could hear her heart thudding in her chest despite the slight ringing in her ears.

 

“Yeah, Mary Margaret inherited hers. Her father didn’t leave anything for Regina, even though Regina was his wife but Regina still managed to survive a stock sale,” David explained. Emma felt like he’d just slapped her across the face with his words.

 

Mary Margaret was Regina’s step-daughter _and_ the mystery shareholder who held more stocks than Gold did? That would explain how they knew each other. Emma couldn’t believe that both of them held company stock and none of them told her about it. Emma felt that she deserved to know, considering one was her best friend and the other was her girlfriend. Having company stock made them both her boss. The possibilities associated with why they didn’t tell her flooded her mind.

 

“Hey David, I got you some hot chocolate. Oh hi, Emma,” Mary Margaret spoke in a cheery voice, no doubt trying to lift her husband’s spirits. Emma turned around to face the petite brunette, her face was twisted with betrayal. Mary Margaret’s face fell when she caught sight of Emma’s expression.

 

“Emma? Are you okay?” Mary Margaret asked, clearly concerned.

 

“No, I’m not. Why didn’t you tell me, MM?” Emma’s tone was one of anguish. Mary Margaret looked confused.

 

“Tell you what?”

 

“That you have company stocks. That you are practically my boss. Did you get this job for me like you did for David? Was that why you didn’t tell me? And oh God, Regina too… You know what? I can’t do this. I can’t believe you did this to me!” Emma spat out.

 

Mary Margaret opened her mouth to say something but Emma refused to listen, “Emma--”

 

Emma could feel the bile in the back of her throat. She shook her head and interrupted the other woman, “No. Don’t you ‘Emma’ me.”

 

With that, Emma stormed off, leaving both David and Mary Margaret behind, calling out for her.

 

Emma got into her car and started driving. She had no idea where she was going; all she knew was that she needed to get out of there. She drove without a destination in mind. As she drove, she pondered what she had just learnt about the people closest to her in her life.

 

Mary Margaret had stakes in the company and got David’s job for him. What would’ve prevent her from having gotten Emma’s job for her too? After all, she did only go for the interview after Mary Margaret informed her of job vacancies in Enchanted Airlines. It would explain how she ascended the ranks so quickly too.

           

Emma felt betrayed and angry at Mary Margaret. How could she have done this to her? All her life, Emma simply wanted to be truly good at something on her own credits. She didn’t want anyone to interfere. Now, the possibility of Mary Margaret obtaining her job on her behalf hurt her. It just proved that Emma was never good at anything. She was never good enough, not even when it came to flying, which was something that she truly enjoyed and loved. No, she simply wasn’t good enough, not even to land a job by herself. Mary Margaret had to go behind her back and pull favors to get her her job and promotions. The more Emma thought about it, the worse she felt about herself and the angrier she got with Mary Margaret.

             

Her car rolled to a stop outside an apartment building that she had gotten so familiar with over the past couple of weeks. She didn’t know what warranted her to drive here, but she didn’t know where else to go anyway. She wanted to speak to Regina so badly but she recalled David’s revelation of Regina being a stakeholder in the company too. This made her wonder about Regina’s motives in keeping something like that from her, considering that it made her Emma’s boss. Perhaps Regina had simply been toying with her. After all, what was a gorgeous and successful actress doing with a pilot who couldn’t even get her job on her own like her?

 

The thought of Regina treating her like a toy she could simply chuck away when she grew tired of it made her heart clench. No, she couldn’t stay down here and let Regina get the satisfaction of doing something like that to her. No, Emma was going to be the one doing the dumping this time. Wiping away the angry tears on her face, Emma composed herself before getting out of the car and heading into the building. After today, Emma would never open her heart to anyone again. 


	14. Chapter 14

Regina glanced at her watch before tilting her head and pressing her lips together. It was strange that Emma hasn’t called her yet, considering the time. She was pretty sure that her flight had already landed an hour ago. Regina checked online. Emma usually would’ve called her by then. Picking up her phone, she dialed the number that she had memorized weeks ago, only to be greeted by the cell service provider asking her to leave a message after the tone. Regina sighed and requested for Emma to call her back when she was free.

 

It was strange for Regina to miss someone this badly, considering it had only been slightly over a day since she last saw Emma before the blonde left for Los Angeles. The feeling was worse since Henry was over at a friend’s house that afternoon and she was left alone to her thoughts. She jumped in surprise when her doorbell rang.

 

Regina leapt up and swiftly walked to the door. It couldn’t be Henry, since she would be picking him up from his friend’s place later. That left Emma, unless a member of the paparazzi somehow had gotten past the doormen. Excitement thrummed in her at the thought of it being Emma. Looking through the peephole to confirm the identity of the person, Regina grinned when she saw that it was Emma.

 

Her face fell when she caught sight of the state that Emma was in when she opened the door though. Emma’s red-rimmed and puffy eyes made her heart clench. The blonde had obviously been crying and Regina wanted nothing more than to draw her into her arms and hold her tight. She shouldn’t even be thinking this, but she was glad that Henry wasn’t home, not when Emma was in such a state.

 

“Emma… Are you okay? Come here,” Regina’s voice was heavy with concern. She took Emma’s hand and pulled her into an embrace, holding her firmly in her arms as she pushed the door shut and locked it. Her heart sank when Emma pushed away from her and walked into her living room with an unreadable expression. What was wrong with Emma?

 

Regina followed behind her girlfriend and sat down next to her on the couch. Emma was still sniffing and she was, as usual, slouching on her couch. Regina was getting really worried. She has never seen the blonde like this and for some reason, she was afraid.

 

“Em-ma?”

 

Emma turned to look at her with a blank expression. There was no telling what Emma was thinking or how she was feeling. With the following words that came out of Emma’s mouth, Regina felt her world come crashing down upon her.

         

“Let’s break up,” Emma said, her voice devoid of emotion.

 

Regina froze and stare at Emma with wide eyes. “What? Why?”

 

“Why? Shouldn’t that be a question you ask yourself, Regina?” Emma spat bitterly. “Why didn’t you tell me that you have a stake in Enchanted Airlines?”

 

Regina frowned. She had no clue as to where Emma was going with that. Why did Emma feel that there was a need for her to tell her about something so trivial? Regina was merely a stakeholder that had voting rights in company decisions. She has no idea how that would impact Emma in any way. “What does that have to do with anything?”

 

“You were just stringing me along all the while, weren’t you? You were simply waiting for me to get comfortable and then dump me,” Emma stated.

 

“After all, it’s just _Emma,_ the poor foster kid who doesn’t mean a thing to anyone. ‘Let’s just toy with her and then throw her away when we get tired of her,’” Emma sneered, gesturing the quotation marks with her fingers. “Well, you know what, Regina? I’m dumping you first. I’m never giving anyone else the satisfaction of throwing me away anymore. Never.”

 

“What the hell are you talking about, Emma? No one is dumping anyone here. No. You don’t get to break things off with me until we get to the bottom of this. Why are you under the impression that I’m toying with you? Because I most definitely am not,” Regina said firmly, her nostrils flaring. She had no idea what has gotten into Emma but there was no way she was letting Emma out of this easily, not when Emma was attempting to break up with her for no apparent reason.

 

“Aren’t you? You’re leagues above me. You’re gorgeous, rich, successful and famous. Why else would you settle for a lowly pilot like me unless it was all just a game to you and you were just waiting to dump me for laughs? Hell, my career has probably been a lie too since MM probably got my job for me like she did for David. Did you have a hand in that too? Did you know who I was before we even met?”

 

Regina let Emma finish her bitter rant as it all became much clearer to her. David or Mary Margaret, the idiots, must have said something to Emma to trigger this. Now, Regina had to clean up their mess, as usual.

 

“I don’t want to dump you, Emma. I never did. And where the hell did you hear something like that from? I only knew who you were after your note to me! I certainly did not affect your career in any way, although I do admit that I helped David after much pleading from Mary Margaret. I don’t see what my holding of company stocks has to do with our relationship.”

 

“It makes you my boss! And how do you expect me to believe you when you’ve never told me this, neither have you even mentioned that Mary Margaret is your freaking step-daughter!” Emma exclaimed, tears streaming down her face.

 

Regina was getting exasperated. How did holding large stakes in the company make her Emma’s boss? Just what did she need to tell Emma to convince her that she truly cared about her?

 

“I own the stocks because I managed to tide through a stock sale. I was trying to protect Mary Margaret’s inheritance from my mother. Had my mother obtained the stocks instead, she would’ve been able to take over the company. I didn’t see a need to tell you about the stocks because they aren’t important to me. I didn’t think that you’d view it as important. Besides, I’m definitely not your boss as a result of this,” Regina tried to explain. She hoped that she would be able to get through to Emma.

 

“Furthermore, Mary Margaret may have once been my step-daughter, but that died with Leopold. I may have been her guardian after Leopold’s death since she was still a minor, but I assure you that I have never truly viewed her as my step-daughter. It’s a part of my life that I want to forget so, no, I didn’t feel that there was a need to inform you about that.” Emma remained silent, and tears still streamed down her face. Regina felt tears of her own escape her eyelids and quickly wiped them away.

 

The two sat in silence for the next few minutes. Soft sniffs and heavy breathing as a result of stuffy noses from crying were the only sounds that filled the living room. Regina couldn’t take the silence any more. She needed to know if she’d gotten through to Emma. She needed to hear Emma tell her that things were still okay between them and that what they’d just spoken about was not going to change anything.

 

“Emma…you of all people should know about my past. You should know that that part of my life is something I’ve never stopped wanting to forget,” Regina said softly.

 

“Please tell me you’re okay with me not telling you that. Please tell me that you’re not breaking things off with me because of that. Emma, I…I love you. Please don’t put me through this…” Regina’s voice trembled as she spoke, tears now streaming uncontrollably down her face. She knew that it may still be too early for Emma to hear the ‘I love you’ from her, but Regina meant it and if Emma was still going to break up with her, then she needed the blonde to know that Regina loves her, no matter how short their relationship will last.

 

Emma let out a soft gasp at Regina’s admission of her love for her. She glanced up with teary eyes. “You…You do?”

 

Regina nodded. “I do love you, Emma. I told you that I wasn’t in this only to have it turn into a temporary thing and I meant it. I’m serious about our relationship. I don’t know how, but I fell quickly in love with you over the past few weeks and I need you to know that.”

 

“I…I love you too, which is why it hurt so much when I thought that this was just a game to you. I’m sorry for doubting you, Regina,” Emma cried.

 

“So, you’re not dumping me?” Regina asked.

 

Emma shook her head. “No, I’m not. I believe that you didn’t mean to intentionally keep those details from me.”

 

Emma let Regina draw her closer for a hug and the two fell into an embrace before sitting in that position on the couch. Regina was relieved and glad that their fight was over.

 

_Hang on, was that even a fight?_

 

She let out a bark of laughter that caused Emma to look up at her with curious eyes.

 

“I think we just had our first huge fight. Was that even a fight?”

 

Emma simply smiled and shrugged, “I don’t know. We could consider it as that anyway. Although, to be honest, we were already fighting when we first met.”

 

Regina pursed her lips, deep in thought. “Well, it’s our first fight since we started dating. How does that sound?”

 

“It sounds okay? Although, you know what sounds better?” Emma asked, her eyes trailing down to Regina’s lips. Before Regina could say another word, she felt Emma’s lips crash upon hers. Emma was devouring her lips hungrily and Regina responded by granting the blonde’s tongue access to her mouth, allowing it to dance against hers.

 

Emma’s phone rang and she chose to ignore it. When it started ringing again, Regina pulled back. Emma groaned at the loss of Regina’s lips.

 

“Don’t you want to get that?” Regina asked.

 

Emma took a half-hearted glance at her phone before shrugging and sliding it onto the coffee table. “Nope, I like kissing you better.”

 

Emma leaned in to continue kissing her, but Regina turned her head to one side and used her hands to stop the blonde. She had caught sight of the caller-ID and saw that it was Mary Margaret that was calling Emma. Another quick glance at the phone told her that Emma had in fact at least 10 missed calls, most of which was no doubt from the air stewardess.

 

“Emma?”

 

Emma sighed and reached over to turn off her phone. She then turned back to Regina and said, “I’m still mad at her for keeping something this big from me. I treated her as my best friend and she never once told me that she practically owns the company, not even when she introduced the job to me. There could have been a conflict of interest! It could have become a breach of duty for her. Hang on, are you two on the board of directors? Because if so, wouldn’t both of you have breached fiduciary duties?”

 

“No, we aren’t on the board of directors. We may be major stakeholders and thus, members of the company, but we aren’t directors in any way. It’s…difficult to explain. How long are you going to stay angry with her?”

 

Regina watched as Emma chewed on her lower lip, deep in thought.

 

“I don’t know…” The blonde muttered.

 

“You know you’re going to have to talk to her eventually.” Regina reached out to tuck a lock of blonde hair behind Emma’s ear.

 

“I know. But not today.”

 

Regina nodded with understanding and chuckled when Emma let out a huge yawn. “I’m going to pick Henry up in about an hour. You should go get some sleep before dinner. You’ve had a long day.”

 

“Stay with me until you need to go?” Emma asked, using her puppy eyes in an attempt to persuade Regina.

 

Regina shook her head with a laugh. “Oh, alright. Who dares defy the ‘puppy eyes’ anyway.”

 

Emma beamed at her and dragged her to her room. 


	15. Chapter 15

Emma must have been truly exhausted, for she fell asleep mere minutes after settling into Regina’s bed. Regina smiled as she watched her girlfriend sleep soundly. Planting a soft kiss on her forehead, Regina eased her arm out from under Emma and slipped out of bed quietly. She shut the door gently behind her and headed to her study. Regina made sure that the door was shut firmly before dialing Mary Margaret’s number.

 

“Hey, it’s me,” Regina said when Mary Margaret picked up the phone. The relieved sigh from the other end was audible through the phone.

 

“Oh my god! Regina! Is Emma with you? Can I talk to her please? I’ve been trying to call her but she refuses to pick up.” Regina pursed her lips and waited for Mary Margaret to finish speaking. She wasn’t a very patient woman, but she was used to the woman’s ramblings.

 

“Are you done?”

 

Regina heard Mary Margaret’s gulp and could imagine her nervous nod over at the other end. With that, she continued, “Yes, Emma is with me. No, you cannot talk to her. She’s asleep at the moment. Now, before either of us say anything else, do not think that I’m helping you in any way by initiating this call. Do you understand?”

 

“Y…yes…” Mary Margaret answered in a slightly defeated tone.

 

“Good,” Regina stated. She then took a deep breath before continuing with a slightly raised voice, “Now, just what were you and your idiot of a husband thinking? You hid the fact that you helped David by abusing your rights as a shareholder of the company. Do you even know the impact that had on her?”

 

“Regina--” Mary Margaret tried to interrupt.

 

“No, not yet. Do you know that she nearly broke up with me? You of all people should know that Emma has her insecurities and your hiding of that information was just what was needed to trigger her insecurities.”

 

“I…I didn’t know that. I didn’t think that it’d be that big a deal. It was just David I was helping. I know Emma doesn’t like it when I try to help her,” Mary Margaret tried to explain. Regina knew that the other woman could burst into tears any time but she didn’t care.

 

“You didn’t think? You’re her best friend, for god’s sake! Start behaving like one! You’re no longer a child, Mary Margaret! I told you back then that helping David was a bad idea but you refused to listen.” Regina pinched the bridge of her nose.

 

“I…I’m sorry...” Mary Margaret was crying now.

 

Regina sighed. “It’s not me you should be apologizing to. Emma remains angry with you for hiding something that big from her. You practically own the company and you were the one who introduced her to the job. Then she learns that you got David his job with your voting powers. What impact do you think that has on her?”

 

“Oh god. She thinks that I got her her job like I did with David’s?” Mary Margaret gasped.

 

“Yes. How much do you know of her past?” Regina asked. She didn’t want to reveal parts of Emma’s past that Mary Margaret did not already know, not when it wasn’t hers to reveal.

 

“She told me that she was a foster kid, that her first boyfriend wasn’t a good guy and that people don’t usually stay in her life.”

 

Regina hummed her acknowledgement as she thought about how to proceed with this. “Well, then you probably should know that because of that, Emma sometimes doesn’t feel that she’s good enough for the people in her life.”

 

“Why would she think that? We love her for who she is!” Mary Margaret protested.

 

“It’s just the exact thing that she’s insecure about because of her past. The fact that she had to find out about what you did for David this way only made it worse by making her think that you did the same thing for her.”

 

“But I didn’t!”

 

“I know that! Look, you and I both know that it has always been you calling to ask for a favor of some sort. Today, it’s the opposite. I am asking you for a favor this time, do you get what I’m trying to say?”

 

“I… I think I do,” Mary Margaret muttered.

 

“Good. I care for Emma very, very much. I know for a fact that she values your friendship with her highly. I don’t want her to lose something this important to her. So, I need you to do something for her. I need you to keep calling her and when she eventually picks up, clear things up with her. Do not leave it hanging like that. The two of you need to talk to each other, understand?”

 

“Yes, Regina.” Mary Margaret sounded like she was crying again.

 

“You know, I’m glad Emma met you.”

 

Regina was surprised to hear the words from Mary Margaret. She opened her mouth to reply, only to close it again. Mary Margaret continued speaking over the phone, “We both know very well how complicated things are between the two of us, especially when Daddy treated you like that all those years ago and I was part of the reason behind your marriage.”

 

“I would prefer if we didn’t speak of your father anymore, like I told you so many times over the years.”

 

Mary Margaret simply continued, “Well, you get my point. I know that part of you has always resented me and I really appreciate your help with protecting my inheritance all these years. You even went the extra mile and remained my guardian until I turned eighteen. Let’s face it, Regina. You never liked me much…”

 

Regina let out an exasperated sigh, “Where are you going with this, Mary Margaret? You know that I hate talking about the past.”

 

“If you would just let me finish,” Mary Margaret complained. “Despite all that, you’re willing to call me and ask me for a favor, for Emma. As her best friend, and your step-daughter--”

 

“Mary Margaret!” Regina warned.

 

“ _Ex-_ stepdaughter,” Mary Margaret corrected and Regina scowled. “Anyway, as her best friend and your ex-step-daughter, I’m really glad that the two of you found each other. I can tell that you love her very much and care so deeply for her. I’m happy for the two of you, really.”

 

“I…” Regina tried to speak.

 

“It’s okay, I understand,” Mary Margaret replied. Regina could practically imagine that cheery smile of hers planted on her face over the phone.

 

“Thank you, Regina. For all that you’ve done for me over the years, and for what you’re doing for Emma. I’ve got to go now. I’ll keep calling Emma until she picks up.” With that, Mary Margaret ended the call, leaving Regina sitting in her study with the phone on her lap, mulling over the conversation that had just taken place. It had taken a strange twist in the end. She frowned, then shrugged and checked her watch to see if it was time to collect Henry from his friend’s place. 


	16. Chapter 16

Emma sighed contentedly when she awoke to find Regina in her arms, still sound asleep. The blonde had to admit that money does make a difference when it comes to assisting with a good night’s sleep. Regina’s high thread count sheets and silk pajamas had allowed Emma to sleep soundly through the night. Perhaps it was that, or perhaps it was the fact that Emma had Regina cuddled against her side but nothing beat sleeping through the night and waking up next to the woman you love.

 

Regina’s head was resting against Emma’s chest, her dark hair covering her face. One of Regina’s arms was curled around her waist. The soft snoring from the brunette told Emma that her girlfriend was still sleeping soundly. Emma smiled and planted a soft kiss on Regina’s head. She then lay back and rested on her pillow, her fingers drawing gentle, random patterns on the exposed parts of Regina’s shoulder. The other woman had chosen to sleep in a satin negligée.

 

“Mmmhmm, Emma?” Regina breathed in deeply before mumbling with a sleep-laced voice. The brunette stirred a little before burrowing her face in the crook of Emma’s neck. “Stop touching me, it tickles. I still want to sleep…”

 

“But I’m wide-awake,” Emma retorted, ignoring Regina’s request to stop touching her.

 

“You got a nap yesterday afternoon!” Regina protested as she pulled herself closer to Emma.

 

Emma thought back to the day before, when she had fallen asleep almost immediately after she dragged Regina into the brunette’s room. She had expected to wake up still in Regina’s arms, even though she knew that the woman needed to collect Henry from his friend’s house, and was disappointed to be greeted by an empty room when she awoke. Her disappointment didn't last long, though, since the enticing smell of dinner had been enough to draw her to the kitchen. Regina had made lasagna, which to Emma had been the perfect comfort food after the long day that she had.

 

Henry had made Emma sit down next to him after dinner to try out a new video game that his friend had loaned him. Regina had joined them shortly, cheering Henry on whilst watching the two of them play. Emma had lost and the Mills had celebrated their victory with cheers.

 

“Emma,” Regina groaned, “Stop and let me sleep.”

 

Emma chuckled and listened to her this time, settling for wrapping both arms around the Latina and drawing her impossibly closer. Regina snuggled into her and promptly went back to sleep with a contented sigh.

 

Breakfast was a simple affair. Emma had requested to be allowed in the kitchen and Regina had finally caved, allowing the blonde to whip up a simple omelet for each of them. Emma also fried up some bacon, which Regina refused to eat so they were split between Henry and her. It was only after breakfast that Emma finally turned on her cell phone to check for calls.

 

There were thirty missed calls in total, of which twenty-nine came from Mary Margaret. Emma sighed, “Damn, that woman is persistent.”

 

“Who is?” Regina asked as she came and sat by Emma.

 

“Mary Margaret,” Emma answered simply. Regina’s lack of response to that made Emma slightly suspicious and she narrowed her eyes at the brunette but said nothing.

 

“You’re going to have to answer her calls or call her back eventually, you know. You can’t avoid her forever.” Regina placed a hand on Emma’s thigh and squeezed. It was comforting, and Emma gave Regina a small smile before glancing back at her phone.

 

“I know,” She replied. “I guess it’s better to get it done sooner than later, huh.”

 

Regina simply hummed before saying, “I’ll leave you to that.”

 

After Regina retreated to her room, Emma stared down at her phone, her thumb hovering above the call button. She nearly dropped her phone when it started ringing and Mary Margaret’s number began flashing on the screen.

 

“Hey, MM,” Emma muttered.

 

 “Emma! Thank god you finally picked up!” The relief was clear in the other woman’s voice.

 

“Uh, yeah. I was about to call you back, actually…”

 

“Really?” Mary Margaret’s sounded really happy and cheery. “Emma, I’m so glad that you finally answered. Are…are you still angry?”

 

“What do you think? Why didn’t you tell me that you practically own the company, Mary Margaret? Did you make use of your authority to get me this job like you did with David? Was that why you didn’t tell me?” Emma accused. She’d honestly thought that she would be able to talk to Mary Margaret properly before answering the phone. However, she simply couldn’t help but feel indignant about Mary Margaret keeping something like that from her.

 

“No, Emma. I’m really sorry. I definitely did not get the job on your behalf like I did for David. All I did was inform you of the job vacancy. I assure you that it didn’t go beyond that. Please trust me. You’re a remarkable pilot. I’d hate for you to quit simply because you think that way. Besides, I don’t actually own the entire company, you know… Just a large percentage of shares…” Mary Margaret said apologetically, trailing off towards the end.

 

“Regina said as much too. I…I still need time…” Emma muttered.

 

“I know…I just…Emma, if I knew you’d react this way, I would have told you a lot earlier.”

 

A blanket of silence fell upon the two of them and Emma sat there with the phone pressed against her ear.

 

 “I…How did you know that I was planning to quit if you had actually pulled favors to get me the job though?”

 

“Emma, you’re my best friend. I know you. I know how stubborn and principled you are. You hate accepting help from others or even claiming credit for things that you did not complete on your own because you feel that you don’t deserve them, even if you did put some effort into them. Trust me, Emma. I definitely did not help you out that way. Don’t give up on flying because of that. Everything you’ve achieved in your career so far, you’ve done so with your own efforts. Don’t give up on your passion.”

 

Mary Margaret’s words brought tears to Emma’s eyes. She had been spot on in her theory of what Emma would’ve done. Despite her love for flying, she simply wouldn’t be able to accept that someone had helped her jumpstart her career. Instead, she would’ve thought that she hadn’t been good enough and that there was no point to continuing her career since she was a mediocre pilot who couldn’t even get a job by herself.

 

Mary Margaret’s words reassured Emma and helped her regain a little bit of confidence in herself. Emma’s accomplishments so far when it came to flying had been achieved on her own. Flying has always been something she was good at and she was beyond relieved to hear that neither Mary Margaret nor Regina had a hand in getting her that job nor in her job advancements.

 

“I…Thank you, MM… I think I needed that.” Emma sniffed.

 

“You know, I wouldn’t have known what exactly to tell you if not for Regina.” Mary Margaret chuckled.

 

Emma was confused. “Regina?”

 

“Yes. She helped me to see what exactly it was that triggered your reaction, so that I knew how to respond to that. She also made sure that I kept calling you and never gave up on you because she recognized that it was important to you,” Mary Margaret explained.

 

“Not that I would’ve stopped calling, of course,” the brunette quickly added, “But I probably would’ve said things that would make it worse had she not called me.”

 

“She called you? When? Why?” Emma was baffled. She had gotten the impression that Regina wasn’t the kind to call Mary Margaret, even though she still couldn’t understand the relationship between the two brunettes. It would be overstating things by calling them friends, but they aren’t exactly just acquaintances either.

 

“She called me yesterday afternoon because she cares about you, Emma. Regina never calls me on her own accord, neither has she ever asked me for favors. It’s usually the other way around. Yesterday, however, she did both, for you.” Mary Margaret’s words elicited a gasp from Emma.

 

“Regina and I have had the most complicated relationship for the longest time. I don’t think there’s any label that we can put on it. Part of her resents me but I like to think that another part of her still loves me. Anyway, because of how complicated things are between us, the fact that she initiated the call and requested that I don’t stop calling until you pick up shows how important you are to her.”

 

Mary Margaret’s words hung heavily in the air. Emma felt her heart grow with warmth at the thought of how much she mattered to Regina. “I can’t believe she did all that for me,” she whispered into the phone.

 

“You know, Emma, people love you a lot more than you think,” Mary Margaret stated simply and Emma could hear the smile in her voice.

 

“Thank you, MM. I guess I overreacted over the whole thing. Sorry…”

 

“Never, Emma. It mattered to you. I can see why you reacted that way. Don’t fret too much over it. I’ll see you again soon?”

 

“Yeah, thanks again. And tell David I’m sorry about the command line check thing. It’s definitely on Spencer, not him. I’m positive that he’ll pass the next one.” Emma felt slightly guilty that she hasn’t thought about David failing his command line check since yesterday.

 

“I’ll pass on the message. We’ll talk again soon, Emma. Bye!” Mary Margaret said before the call ended.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Emma found Regina on the chaise lounge in her room, using her iPad. Regina looked up from whatever she was doing and gave her a loving smile that made Emma’s heart flutter. When Regina patted the space on the chaise next to her, Emma took the cue and sat down next to her girlfriend.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Reading the scripts Sidney sent to me. It’s about time I selected the next role to audition for,” Regina explained. She placed her iPad aside, sat up and with a tilt of her head, spoke, “Have you spoken to Mary Margaret?”

 

“Yeah, I did,” Emma replied simply. At the slight raise of Regina’s eyebrow, she added, “We’re fine now.”

 

“That’s good to know,” Regina said with a hum. She reached for her iPad, intent on continuing with her reading. Emma stopped Regina by placing her hand on the brunette’s, causing the other woman to glance up with concern.

 

“Thank you, Regina.” Emma smiled, green eyes meeting chocolate ones. She gave Regina’s hand a small squeeze.

 

Regina frowned. “What for?”

 

“For stepping out of your comfort zone for me. Mary Margaret told me that you called her yesterday.”

 

“That woman can never keep her mouth shut,” Regina complained, causing Emma to let out a bark of laughter.

 

“You know, she just cares about both of us.”

 

Regina did not say anything else after that, so Emma continued, “She told me that people love me more than I think.”

 

Regina remained silent for a minute, scrunching her nose a little. “I never thought I’d ever say this, but I agree with her.”

 

Emma grinned at that. “Thank you, again.”

 

“Don’t be silly. It was the least I could do. Did you honestly think that I’d be happy watching the most important friendship in your life fall apart and not do anything about it? I know how much she means to you, and well, I’d hate to see you in pain because of a misunderstanding between the two of you. I love you, Emma. My issues with Mary Margaret…overcoming them is nothing compared to seeing you in pain.”

 

Emma felt tears welling in her eyes and hurried to wipe them away before they could fall. “I love you too, Regina Mills.”

 

Regina simply gave her a look of adoration that made Emma’s heart melt and leaned in for a kiss. 


	17. Epilogue

**One Month Later**

 

**_ Hang on, is Regina Mills taken? _ **

_It is a sad, sad day for all the fans of Regina Mills, as it appears that the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs star is attached. The Academy Award winner is rumored to be dating Emma Swan. Swan is a pilot for Enchanted Airlines, and the two had previously collaborated on a commercial to promote the company._

_Sources tell us that the two had actually met prior to their collaboration on the commercial and their first meeting had been far from pleasant. Another source confirmed the news by telling the Mirror: “Regina and Emma are very much in love with one another. They may have had a rocky start, but that only served to aid their relationship.”_

_The two have been spotted in Central Park, enjoying a picnic with Mills’ 10-year-old son, Henry. Swan has also been spotted going in and out of the apartment complex where Mills resides._

_So, readers, let us know what you think. Is Regina Mills is dating Emma Swan or are they simply ‘gal pals’? Tell us in the poll below._

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Regina scoffed after reading the article. Sidney had sent her the link the moment he came across it. She had been prepared for something like this to pop up soon after the picnic. The couple had grown tired of staying in the penthouse and finally agreed to take the step to venture outside. Henry had suggested a picnic and the two ladies had been quick to agree. Regina had warned Emma over and over again about this prior to their picnic and the impact it would have on her life, but Emma had simply shrugged it off.

 

“It’s alright. We would have to deal with that sooner or later anyway,” she had said. And thus, they had gone on the picnic, only to have spotted paparazzi halfway through. Regina wanted to leave, but Emma had insisted they stay since no one was exactly hounding them directly anyway.

 

Now, this article has popped up. Regina sighed. She wondered how Emma would take it. Regina has been in the industry for years and as such, has grown used to the extra attention. Emma, on the other hand, was still new to everything and this was something that Regina felt that she had brought upon the other woman.

 

Regina glanced at her watch and bit her lower lip. Emma was due to return from the airport anytime soon. With such an article circling around, Regina wondered if Emma would encounter any trouble on the way. Regina sighed once more and walked towards the window that faced the street below. She glanced down and spotted the press downstairs. Groaning aloud, she prayed that Emma managed to avoid them somehow.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

           

“What on earth is going on?” Emma said to herself as she turned into Regina’s street, only to be greeted by a large crowd of people parked right outside the brunette’s apartment building. It was perplexing, considering that she had encountered some weird stares in the airport earlier and was now met with this as she tried to return to Regina.

 

The crowd prevented Emma from parking on the street outside and thus, she settled for parking in a smaller alleyway and walking back to the penthouse. It turned out to be one of the worst decisions she has made recently, for she was practically attacked the minute she got near the building and some of the people crowding there saw her.

 

A woman in a suit had pointed at her and shouted, “Look! Emma Swan!”

 

The crowd, some of whom were holding microphones, cameras and recording devices, turned and the next thing Emma knew, they were rushing towards her. Emma stared at them with wide eyes, having no clue as to what was going on.

 

In the next few seconds, Emma was assaulted by a tirade of voices and a variety of devices pointed towards her face. She was blinded by flashes from various cameras and was so shocked that she could neither move nor hear anything that they were saying.

 

Emma had no idea when nor how, but someone had managed to squeeze through the crowd and guide her back into the apartment building, where she was met with a comforting silence characteristic of the lobby of the building. The crowd had been barred from entering by the doormen, much to Emma’s relief.

 

When she finally recovered from her shock, she looked around to see a huge burly man in front of her. “You alright, Miss Swan?”

 

“Yes, thank you, Sam,” she replied, the relief evident in her voice.

 

“You’re welcome, Miss Swan. I’m glad you’re alright. I should have been more alert, seeing as they’ve been out there the entire day. Don’t worry though, they usually stop loitering outside once the news grows old,” Sam replied with a smile. He then returned to his spot behind the counter.

 

“Oh god, that was horrifying. I don’t think I’ll be going out for a while. Thanks again, Sam,” Emma joked.

 

“Emma! I’m so glad you’re okay! Did they do anything to you?” Regina ran towards her the moment she walked into the penthouse. The brunette checked her limbs and face for any possible injuries before giving her a peck on the lips.

 

“Relax, Regina, I’m alright. Sam from downstairs rescued me. I had to park my car in some alleyway though,” Emma explained. “I’m just a little overwhelmed and in shock. I did not expect this particular ‘welcome back’ gift.”

 

Regina frowned, her eyes downcast. “It’s my fault. I’m so sorry. We shouldn’t have gone on that picnic…”

 

Emma placed a finger under Regina’s chin and lifted it, emerald eyes searching for caramel ones until they met. “Hey,” she said gently, “It’s not your fault. People would’ve found out eventually. And I’m alright. I’m sure they’ll get tired of this news soon.”

 

Regina stepped forward and drew Emma into an embrace, hiding her face in the crook of Emma’s neck. Emma responded by wrapping her arms around her girlfriend and kissing the top of her head. “Now, where is the article that triggered all these?”

 

Regina drew back and took her phone out of her pocket. She navigated to the correct website and handed the device to Emma.

 

There was a minute of silence as Emma read through the article, before the blonde’s exclamation startled the brunette. “Forty-seven percent ‘dating’, five percent ‘I don’t care’, eight percent ‘Let’s wait and see’ and forty percent ‘gal pals’!” Emma shrieked.

 

“Emma!” Regina scolded. Emma gave her a sheepish smile and tightened her grip around Regina’s waist.

 

“Seriously though, forty percent voted for ‘gal pals’. Gal pals!” Emma scoffed. Regina giggled and shook her head.

 

“That’s really what you’re most concerned about at the moment?”

 

“Gal pals… I’ll show ‘em what gal pals do!” Emma wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

 

Regina’s eyes darkened considerably, and Emma caught the flash of lust in them. “Well, Henry’s not home at the moment. I think I’d like to find out what ‘ _gal pals’_ do…”

 

**-END-**


End file.
